Holding On to Pieces of Us
by Ilovemesomekillianjones
Summary: One year after the disappearance of the love of her life, Emma Swan is struggling. She's losing hope, consciousness, and she might be losing her mind. After receiving life altering news, Emma will be faced with more than one difficult decision. Her choices seem bleak, until a new choice is offered, one she couldn't have fathomed even in the crazy hallucinations she's been having. W
1. Chapter 1

It'd been a year. Emma sat at her vanity and allowed a tear to escape unchecked. She grasped at the necklace, laden with his pendants, which lay between her breasts, always, save for when she showered. They were the only pieces of him that she had left. _Come back to me_. A year to the day, and she was just as destroyed as the day David had come to her and told her that their friend, her partner, her lover, was gone… forever.

He'd been on a hike with their friends when it happened. Having come down with a bug and barely able to get out of bed, Emma had stayed behind. She'd told Killian to go, with standing orders to have fun and not worry about her.

 **One year ago…**

" _Here Swan, keep my necklace safe, I wouldn't want to lose it gallivanting around the woods."_

 _She rolled her eyes, but let him fasten it around her neck. "You wear more jewelry than I do, Jones."_

" _I hope to remedy that one day soon," he whispered, then grabbed her left hand and placed a soft kiss on her ring finger._

 _She fingered through the pendants that laid against her heart. They were the match to the ones she wore around her wrist. "In the meantime we have pieces of us right here."_

In hindsight she wishes she would have been selfish, asked him to stay by her side, but that had never been Emma's style.

All David could say was it came out of nowhere, and by _it_ , they weren't even sure. Killian was there one moment, and gone the next. The screams that echoed through the forest as whatever beast pulled him away, had put Mary Margaret in the hospital for almost a month. She wouldn't eat or talk. When she finally came out of the semi catatonic state she'd told Emma only that she was sorry, but that she couldn't talk about it.

Emma still held out hope. Hope that one day he would just magically come back. He would show up on their doorstep, all smiles, wit, and cocksure. Lately though she had started to go downhill. Her hope was fading, and it was taking a toll on her health. She was always tired, she didn't have an appetite, and she was pretty sure she was starting to hallucinate.

Since he'd been gone, Emma had always felt his presence at her crime scenes, she chalked it up to the fact that he'd been her partner in that regard as well. It was just another sign of missing him. But now, she'd swear she'd seen Killian at her last three crime scenes. It was as if he haunted her, challenging her to solve the case without him. _I must be losing my mind._

 **Last month…**

" _This is the fourth one, David. It can't be a coincidence."_

" _Maybe you're just lucky?"_

" _I'm serious, it's beyond fucking eerie that the lead suspect in each of my cases is turning up dead within weeks of their crime."_

" _Are you trying to make a confession?" David deadpanned. "You a serial killer, Emma?"_

" _Please, this would make me a hero, not a killer. These perps were all wanted for murder."_

 _Looking up toward David, she got an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. Sometimes she missed Killian at the oddest moments, like here, now, looking at a dead body in an alleyway. She glanced around the surrounding area, looking for anyone sticking out in the crowd. She knew that sometimes killers liked to hang around to admire their handiwork._

 _That's when she spotted him._

 _Her breath caught in her throat, and she staggered as she stood up. Emma placed her hands on her knees, trying to stop the swaying, perhaps she'd been squatting too long, and the blood rushing to her head was throwing off her equilibrium. Looking up again to the place she'd seen him, she fully expected to find the dark corner empty, but there he stood, stock still, dressed in all black, like the darkness itself. He had a longing in his eyes, one that she was sure she was projecting into her hallucination, for the dead didn't long. Did they? It was she that longed._

" _Killian," she mumbled reaching her hand out._

" _Emma?" David questioned._

 _The dizziness took full hold of her then as the night sky started to rush backward. Backward? That was the last conscious thought she had before smacking her head on the unforgiving asphalt and passing out._

" _Emma!" a hollow voice called out._

 _He'd been right there, piercing blue eyes, pleading with her as though she'd left him. Opening her eyes, Emma tried to reconcile where she was, but the vivid color of blue still swam in her mind. "You left me, that means you have to come back to me."_

" _Alright, I'm taking her to the E.R., she smacked her head pretty hard."_

" _What? No, I'm fine," she argued with David, finally coming out of the haze. And although she felt fine where her faculties were concerned, her heart was ripping in half once again. Just like it did every time her mind played tricks on her._

" _No arguments. We need to get you checked out."_

" _David," Emma pleaded, but one glance at his signature dad look and his hands on his hips and Emma gave up. She didn't have a battle of the wills in her right now. "Fine, whatever." She retreated inside herself after acquiescing to David's check up._

 _Sitting in the front of the squad car Emma remembered back to a time when it was Killian and her solving these crimes together. Tears came unbidden, and she huffed at the ability Killian Jones still had to make her feel every array of emotion._

 _Bless David, for he hadn't said a word. The drive was quiet, no music, no talking, and she closed her eyes against the onslaught of images and memories that even the silence brought._

" _We're here."_

 _Climbing out of her seat she dragged her feet, following behind David. Once inside the E.R., the barrage of noise rattled her into awareness again. She glanced around the room seeing a crowd that could rival a Florida beach during spring break. "No fucking way, Nolan. I'm fine, I'm not spending the unforeseeable future in this place."_

 _Emma stomped off, muttering to herself the whole way. "I'm fine. Nothing that rum, a few tears, and a good night's rest can't cure."_

 _David rushed after her and reluctantly took her home. He ran a concussion check on her, made her promise no booze, and then left her to her own devices. She had of course drank a pirate's share of rum, and then curled up where she had every night since he'd disappeared - the couch, and cried herself to sleep._

That hadn't been the only time she'd seen him though. Over the past four months she'd started to hallucinate him more and more. She was starting to worry that she was going to end up losing it altogether, create some alternate reality where it was just her and Killian.

Standing up from her vanity she stared at herself in the mirror. She was pale, not unusual for folks in Maine, but her pallor was almost sickly, and she had permanent dark rings surrounding her eyes. She'd lost weight, and it was never more apparent than when standing in front of her mirror clad in nothing more than a black bra and panty set.

A small sob escaped her throat as she thought of the fact that Killian would never touch her again, never worship her body again. No one ever would, not for lack of trying either. Humbert and Walsh had been sniffing around lately, subtly testing the waters to see if she was on the market. She wasn't interested, didn't want anyone if she couldn't have Killian. Another sob escaped her and soon she was a blubbering mess. Emma wasn't sure if it was more worrisome that this was still happening a year later, or that she was accustomed to it as if it were part of her daily routine.

Wrapping her arms around her middle she walked to her closet. She felt shittier than ever today, not that she expected any less. It was the one year anniversary of the disappearance of the love of her life. After slipping on a pair of black leggings and a black blouse, she pushed her feet into her boots, threw on her jacket, then trudged to her front door.

 **Six months ago…**

" _We've covered every damn inch of that forest!"_

" _No we haven't!"_

" _Look at the map, Emma. Look at it!" he'd yelled in frustration._

" _I am looking at it," she seethed. "It's wrong, we haven't looked everywhere."_

 _David took a deep, deep breath, counted to ten, rubbed his hands over his face and reset. "Okay, where haven't we looked?" His voice was now serenely calm as he took a moment to think of how he'd be acting if the situation was reversed. If Mary Margaret was the one who'd been taken._

" _Here," Emma answered, jabbing her pointer finger down on the map._

 _Ironically enough, the part she was pointing to hadn't been searched. Not because they hadn't thoroughly scoured the wooded area surrounding Killian's disappearance, but because it didn't exist. It was on the map, but no one had ever seen it._

" _Emma, we talked about this, there is nothing here," he said, indicating the area she was referring to. "It's called Cartographer's Bluff, because the cartographer's got it wrong._

" _There has to be something. There has to be. If there's nothing else, then that means that… it means that…" her voice trailed off as she couldn't bring herself to finish the thought._

" _He's gone," David whispered._

 _Emma buried her face in her hands. "No," she cried quietly. "He can't be gone. He can't be." She felt David's arms embrace her and she slumped against him. "I need him."_

Grabbing her purse and keys she headed out to her car. His car. One of Killian's pride and joys, his black 1967 Chevy Camaro. It was sexy, loud, and breathtaking, just like him. It never failed to amaze her that each time she opened up the car it still smelled as strongly of Killian as it had when he'd still driven it. Inhaling deeply she slumped down into the seat, today was going to be harder than she thought. She started up the car and chuckled as she thought about how Killian would always liken the engine to the purr of a cat, she revved it once, a large cat no doubt.

 **Ten months ago…**

" _It's too soon, Detective Swan," Captain Nemo told her._

" _But Captain, I have a new lead in Belle Gold's murder case."_

" _I thought I told you to ease back into it. Why are you already back in homicide working a case."_

" _Because it's what I do. It's my job. Now can I tell you what I've got?"_

 _Nemo nodded his head. He knew when to stand down._

" _It was her stepson, he killed her because his inheritance was being threatened. And what's more, I think he might've killed his father too, not realizing the old man had already changed his will."_

" _Where'd you get this information?" he asked as she handed over documentation of Robert Gold's last will and testament._

 _The real estate mogul had died last month of what had appeared to be natural causes. However, once the remains of his widowed wife had turned up at the bottom of a ravine in a car with the brake lines obviously cut, Gold's body had been ordered exhumed for an autopsy._

" _I requested the will from Gold's lawyer as soon as I was put on the wife's murder case. They just showed up." She hoped her captain wouldn't read too much into her choice of words, for they really had just shown up. In the front seat of the Camaro. She didn't remember bringing any work home from the office, yet there they'd sat in an unmarked envelope on the passenger seat._

Pulling up to the station she popped open her umbrella and jogged to the front entrance. The coffee kiosk was set up to the side as usual and a young couple was ordering. They were arm in arm, laughing and joking, and she was reminded of coffee with Killian, running late to work after late nights spent together.

Usually he'd bring her coffee in bed in the mornings, but on those nights when they'd needed each other again and again, they'd overslept every once in a while. Those mornings they would grab a coffee here, they'd been the couple arm in arm, laughing and teasing. Everyone in the office knew they were stupid in love before they even had. No one had ever dared to question it, and therefore Killian and Emma had never needed to hide their relationship.

Growing up, Emma had never thought she would have the life she had just a little over a year ago. She'd been abandoned in the foster care system, bounced around from home to home. As soon as she could, she'd left, she'd joined the police force, kept her head down and her nose clean. She'd worked hard, and eventually a transfer from Boston to Portland, Maine had gotten her the promotion to detective she had been chasing.

Upon arriving she'd met the sweetest couple in the world. They were possibly right out of a fairy tale. David and Mary Margaret Nolan had become more like family than anyone she'd ever known. She was paired with another new transfer, Killian Jones. They were the epitome of a thin line between love and hate for just a few short months before they'd finally cut the sexual tension by hooking up in the backseat of his beloved Camaro. It was all Emma had allowed at first, but it wasn't long before even she knew that Cupid had definitely shot her ass full of arrows. They'd moved in after six months of fighting, fucking, and fraternizing. It was bliss.

Shaking her head, she reluctantly extricated herself from the nostalgic haze she found herself in today. Pulling open the door, she plastered on her work face. Not a smile, not a scowl… just business.

"Morning Detective Swan," Humbert greeted her, handing her a coffee.

Emma recoiled as though it were poison, and though it wasn't, it also wasn't from Killian. "No thanks, I um, I already had my morning fix." Truth be told the thought of Graham's coffee was physically repulsing her right now.

"Alright," he said, setting the cup down on a nearby counter and continuing to follow her toward her desk. "Mary Margaret wants to see you. She said she found something interesting on the latest victim."

"Ok, I'll go see her in a bit."

"Hey, Emma?"

Emma set her belongings on her desk and looked up at the questioning tone in Graham's voice.

"How are you holding up?"

Her eyes immediately stung with tears. She figured others would remember, they weren't monsters. But she didn't think anyone would bring it up or want to talk about it. "I'm fine."

"I'm here if you need to talk."

"I, um, I have to go." Emma shot past him, and made her way to the restroom. Splashing cool water on her face she tried to keep the nausea at bay. _I shoulda taken the whole day off,_ she lamented _._

 **Last week…**

" _Did you ever make an appointment?"_

" _Yes, pops."_

 _David chuckled at the nickname. She'd always called him and Mary Margaret all forms of mom and dad, and he'd never minded. They had taken her under their collective wing the moment they'd met._

" _I just want you to take care of yourself. You've been out of it lately."_

 _Emma just nodded, she knew he was right. She was suffering from the classic signs of depression, but she'd been dragging her heels because she did not want to see a head doctor. Don't I have a good reason to be sad? Sadness explained everything, save the hallucinations. There was no explanation for an overactive imagination and wishful thinking. She had ended up going to the doctor the very next day; after Mary Margaret walked in on her losing her lunch and insisted on making the appointment herself._

She had taken the half day as she had another appointment with her doctor. They'd asked a bunch of questions at the last appointment, had her fill out surveys about her mental health, ordered a complete blood count, a ct scan, and recommended some vitamins and supplements for her general malaise. Emma had thought the whole process a little over the top, but she was no doctor.

Feeling like she wasn't going to lose her stomach anymore, she washed her hands, splashed some more water on her face, dried it and then made her way back to her desk. She hoped maybe Graham would catch the social cue and back off for the rest of the day.

 **Three months ago…**

" _I just don't get it, why would the mayor kill some random lady," David puzzled._

" _My first thought would be that it wasn't random at all. We are just missing the key." Emma hadn't realized at the time just how close she was with that statement. They'd just come from the home of Robin and Marian Locksley, the couple had been slain in their bed. The only items of interest they'd recovered from the scene had been a dagger that was wiped clean and laid in the deceased Mr. Locksley's hand, and a business card laying in the front foyer. "There's no other explanation for her card just laying there. She did it."_

" _Let's pay her a visit then."_

" _It's almost eight, David."_

" _Ahh, but you forget, young Detective Swan, evil never rests."_

 _Emma rolled her eyes at his dramatics. "Whatever you say ancient Detective Nolan." They headed out into the night and to the mayor's office in search of answers._

" _How can I help you detectives?" Regina Mills greeted them coolly from behind her large desk._

" _We're here to ask you a few questions about your relationship with Robin and Marian Locksley."_

" _Can I offer either of you a beverage?"_

" _No thanks," they replied in unison._

 _Regina stood up from her desk and walked over to the small bar area. She poured herself a glass of water and took a sip. "I don't believe I know them," she answered, setting the glass down on the bar. She slipped her hands into her pockets, and absentmindedly pulled out a pink piece of paper._

 _Emma watched as the woman paled momentarily before shoving her hands back into her pockets and collecting herself. "Are you sure? He's a locksmith, maybe the city uses his services?"_

" _No, I don't think so."_

 _Emma knew without a doubt the woman was lying. She'd always had an insanely accurate bullshit meter. "I don't believe you."_

" _Emma," David admonished softly._

" _I beg your pardon, Detective Swan. Do you know who you're speaking to?"_

" _Yes, I do. And I think you're full of shit."_

" _Detective Nolan, if you don't get this," Regina pulled her hands out of her pockets to gesture toward Emma, "hothead out of my office right now, I'll be forced to speak to Nemo about her insubordination. Now if that's all, I trust you can see yourselves out." The mayor walked back to her desk, sat down in her chair and pretended to make herself busy._

 _Emma knelt down and picked up the piece of paper that had inadvertently fallen from the mayor's pocket. Unfolding it, she read the contents and smirked to herself. When she looked up to address Ms. Holier Than Thou, there he was, outside, under the single tree. Blinking to focus, he was gone when she opened her eyes._

" _No, that's not all," Emma retorted from where she'd knelt down. "You dropped something, Madam Mayor." She unfolded the pink piece of paper. "Hmmm… a receipt from Locksley's Locksmithing. Dearest Regina, You hold the key to my heart. Soon enough, it'll be just you and me. Yours, Robin. There's a key taped to it."_

 _David quirked a brow at his partner, then turned back to scrutinize Regina. "Want to explain what the letter means, or why you lied to us? Better yet, let's head down to the station and you can give your full statement there."_

" _I want a lawyer."_

 _That had been the end of that. Regina wasn't answering any questions under the advisement of her counsel, and being the mayor, she soon made bail._

 **Two months ago…**

 _As she shuffled through the files on her desk, that pink piece of paper fell from the stack. She could swear she'd stapled it to the reports for safe keeping. Examining it closer she saw that it had in fact been stapled. It was still sticking out, begging to be noticed, just as it had from the mayor's freshly pressed suit pocket when Emma had walked into her office to question her. She pulled it out._

 _Emma ran her finger over the key, each groove unique to an equally unique tumbler. "That's it! David," she yelled._

" _What's up?" he asked walking across the office._

" _He changed the locks on her. He changed his mind, decided not to leave his wife. That's why she killed them both, that's why her business card was on the floor!"_

" _Slow down, how do you know this?"_

" _Just a hunch. C'mon, let's go see the mayor. You drive, I'm not feeling great today."_

" _You got an appointment yet?"_

" _Yeah, yeah, I'll go pops," she chuckled. This was the most upbeat she'd felt in recent months. It must be the high of pinning down a perp._

 _The mayor had cracked quickly when presented with Emma's new theory. She'd confessed to everything. She'd been having a torrid love affair with the locksmith after he'd rekeyed her personal residence. Robin had promised Regina he'd leave his wife, and they would be together forever. The wrench in the plan came when Locksley got his wife pregnant, not only was he still sleeping with her, but he'd then told Regina he'd had a change of heart. He wanted to give it a go with his wife and their baby-to-be. She'd murdered them all in a cold, jealous, rage._

" _He was a fucking locksmith and I was able to break in using my credit card." That had been when she'd dropped her business card from her wallet as she put away her credit card._

Emma shivered at the unaffected manner with which the mayor had recounted the tale, but before the heartless woman could see justice for her crimes, she'd ended up on a cold slab just like the three before her. At least Emma had solved the cases first. The law wasn't hers to make, it was hers to uphold, but if you asked her, murderers were better off dead.

She wasn't any closer to solving these cases either, not that she'd put forth an outpouring of effort. She'd get around to it, it just wasn't top priority. This murderer, the murderer of evil, didn't want to be caught, he was good. Hadn't left a trace of evidence on any of the four perpetrators turned victims. She was going to have a more difficult time solving these ones.

 **Nine Months ago…**

" _What the hell do you mean he's dead?" Emma shouted into the receiver. "Yeah, we're on our way."_

" _Who is it?"_

" _Neal Gold"_

" _Your murder suspect in the Gold case?" David asked eyebrows at his hairline._

" _One in the same."_

" _What the hell happened to him?" Emma asked as she and David arrived on the scene._

" _Not entirely sure yet, ma'am. The victim's body temperature indicates he's been dead at least twelve hours, but rigor mortis isn't twelve hours advanced. It doesn't make sense."_

" _Killian?" Emma called out._

" _Emma," David said grabbing her arm, "are you okay?"_

" _I saw him, David, he was right there," Emma said breathlessly. "He was right there." She collapsed the moment David's arms came around her._

" _Shhhh," he comforted Emma._

" _But he was there, it was him," she insisted as he walked her away from the scene and back to the squad car._

" _Emma, that's impossible. It was just someone who looked like him. Think about it sweetie, if that was him, what would possess him to walk away? Nothing in this world would stop him from coming to you. Come on, it's late, you're exhausted, let's get you home."_

 _Logically she knew he was right. But emotionally she was struggling. She would swear it was him._

That had marked the beginning of her perps being murdered, since then three more had met their end in much the same fashion. Neck broken and laid out with their hands covering their own faces, maybe a pose to show some modicum of remorse, false though it was since they hadn't covered their faces themselves.

"Emma? _Em-ma_."

"Huh?"

"Where were you just now?"

"Just thinking about a case, what's up, Graham?"

"Mary Margaret just called again. She needs to see you before you leave for your appointment."

"Thanks," Emma answered looking at the time on her phone. "I'll go right now."

Walking into the medical examiner's office, she watched as her friend worked studiously, hunched over her desk, no doubt meticulously documenting some macabre fact or other about one of her clients.

 **Eleven months ago…**

" _She won't eat, she's also still not speaking, so I don't think you'll get what you're looking for. I assure you it is voluntary, she has chosen this for whatever reason. I'm not sure you should see her given your present state of mind. If you're here for answers, you're not going to get any."_

 _The doctor was pissing Emma off. Didn't he know that Mary Margaret was her best friend, that she'd be able to get through to her. She needed answers. "Be that as it may, I want to see her."_

 _She walked into the bleak room and sat at the chair next to Mary Margaret's bed. Taking her hand in her own, Emma squeezed gently. "I'm here."_

 _Mary Margaret's eyes shifted to Emma's, but she didn't respond._

" _Hey, how are you? I know that you're in some pain. I know that whatever you're going through is hurting you. But I need your help."_

 _Tears slid down both womens' faces. "Mary Margaret, please, tell me what happened to Killian. I need to find him, he might still be out there."_

 _Mary Margaret's silent tears morphed into cries, which turned to shrieks, and she ripped her hand from Emma's. She was panicking, her head shaking back and forth violently as if the motion itself would keep whatever she'd locked up at bay. The monitors were going haywire, and a nurse rushed in with a sedative._

" _I'm sorry, ma'am, you have to go."_

" _I'm sorry Mary Margaret, I'm sorry." Emma was now sobbing uncontrollably, she could feel the pain and fear radiating from her friend. She watched what little life had been there drain from her friend's face as she faded into a drug-induced slumber. Whatever Mary Margaret was experiencing was only a reaction to what had happened to Killian, and that thought killed her._

"Earth to Emma?"

She jolted back to the present as her friend's voice cut through the awful memory. Mary Margaret had finished her documentation and was staring at Emma expectantly. "You summoned?"

"I did." Mary Margaret stood up from her desk, walked toward Emma and gave her a hug as only Mary Margaret could. "How are you doing today?"

"Not you too, I can't do this today. Maybe tomorrow, but not today." Emma's plea was quiet, but desperate. She couldn't handle anymore today.

"Emma, take today, go to your appointment, then go home. Don't come back here. David and I are worried about you. I don't know how to say what I want to say without you calling me mom, and without sounding bossy, but I'm going to say it anyway. It's been a year, you need to heal. Start looking to the future, you still have one, it's just different than you thought it would be."

Tears welled in her eyes, she didn't want a different future. She wanted him. "Who made you the timekeeper of grief?" There was no bite to her words, she knew her friend was trying to help.

"I just want to see a smile on your face again, maybe a little hope in your eyes."

"Okay… mom."

"Just couldn't help yourself." Mary Margaret threw her arm around Emma's shoulder and led her over to a table littered with paperwork. "So this is what I actually called you down here for. These are the four cases, your four murderers that have now been murdered. Interestingly enough they all have more in common than just the way they were killed and posed. In all the cases rigor mortis doesn't match the internal body temperature, making time of death hard to place. Another similarity was just confirmed with the most recent case."

Emma looked at her friend who'd paused for dramatic flair. "Okay, I'll bite, what is it?"

"They were all drained of a significant amount of blood."

"Uhhh, what does that mean?"

"Well, it could explain the lack of correlation between body temperature and rigor mortis. I don't know what it means about your murderer, but it's one more way the murders are connected. It looks like you and David have a serial killer on your hands."

 **Eight months ago…**

 _Emma picked up the file that David had tossed on her desk. "Seriously? Some parents are so cruel," she chuckled as she read the file label - King, Arthur. "Alright so what's the deal with this Arthur King? He was found in bed, no signs of forced entry, no foul play. Just bad genes, so why is it on our desks?"_

" _At first glance, you're right. But Mary Margaret called up, she found trace amounts of ricin in his system, it's responsible for his death."_

" _What is ricin?"_

" _It's a poison from castor beans, and it's highly lethal even in small doses. Based on the amount of alcohol in his system, his murderer probably got him liquored up before dosing him which took away any chance of him being able to expel the poison."_

" _Christ, who are we looking at? The wife?"_

" _Yup," David sighed, "it's always the wife."_

 _Emma rolled her eyes at the foregone conclusion, but figured David had a reason for his assumptions._

" _Alright, spill."_

" _Well, poison is traditionally a woman's weapon-"_

" _I'll be sure to kill you with my gun if you continue to spout such bullshit."_

 _David held his hands up in supplication, "And, if you'd let me finish, she was having an affair. She needed him out of the way if she wanted to keep her lifestyle, and her bartender."_

" _That makes more sense. Woman's weapon," she muttered picking up the file and standing up."Who's up first, the wife or the bartender._

" _You pick, I've got them both in holding waiting to be questioned."_

Unlocking the car and getting in, Emma tossed her bag on the passenger seat. She had an hour until her appointment. These were the worst times, the times when she had nothing to occupy her mind. Starting up the car she took off toward the doctor, she'd find a spot to stop for some hot chocolate on the way.

 **About a year and a half ago…**

" _What can I get for you?"_

" _She'll have a hot chocolate with whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon."_

 _She bumped him in the chest with her forearm, "Don't order for me, what is this? The dark ages?"_

" _It was a romantic gesture! Is it not your order, some women might find it charming that I'd remembered," Killian spluttered._

 _She secretly loved that he remembered, but she couldn't let him know that._

" _You know what, cancel that order. I was mistaken, she does not want a hot chocolate with whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon. Please, love, order away." He extended his hand out toward the barista and bowed his head._

" _You goofball," she giggled, bumping him in the chest again. She felt when his arms came around her waist and he snuggled his face into her neck. "That tickles!"_

 _The barista smiled at the display, patiently waiting for their order._

" _I will have a hot chocolate with whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon. And he will have a..."_

" _You are all I need to wake up every morning."_

Emma wiped at the tears that had formed in her eyes. That was a happy memory, no need to cry; yet the thought of not having those happy moments ever again, that was what brought the tears. She decided to just go through the drive through instead of going inside Starbucks, she wasn't really in any shape to be out in public.

Pulling up at the hospital she parked, and laid back in her seat. Just a few minutes, her head was pounding, she'd just shut her eyes for a few minutes.

 **Seven months ago…**

" _Gwenn King. Ring a bell?"_

" _Should it?" Emma asked only half listening._

" _She's the husband killer."_

" _What?"_

" _You know, the one who used woman's weapon to murder King Arthur."_

 _Emma laughed, "That ain't gonna be the way I do it. So what about her? She made bail, did she skip?"_

" _On the contrary, she's not going anywhere… ever. She was found dead this morning, and get this, her body was posed just like Gold's, hands over her eyes."_

 _Emma spun around at that bit of news. "Seriously? What are the odds? Do we have a vigilante on the loose?"_

Emma woke with a start, blue eyes and vigilante justice floating in her mind. "Shit, what time is it?" Grabbing her phone she noted she'd been asleep for less than twenty minutes. She grabbed her things and headed into the doctor's office. After checking in she sat down and turned on her phone.

She hadn't been able to bring herself to change her lock and home screen. It was her favorite picture of them together, and though it was a special kind of torture to see it each and every time she used her phone, the thought of removing it tore at the hollow that had resided in her for a year now, and that was a pain far worse.

 **Five months ago…**

" _I have him, he's running south down Maine," Emma shouted into her radio._

" _Copy, I'm going to come around the other side."_

 _Emma clipped her radio back to her holster and continued sprinting in pursuit of one of Portland's most wanted thieves. "Freeze," she called out as he turned down an alleyway. As she was accepting just how futile that request had been, it was as if God decided to intercede, and Scarlet tripped on nothing, landing face first on the torn up pavement._

 _Emma dove on top of him, pinning him down with all the weight she could muster. She yanked one of his arms behind his back and fastened a handcuff to his wrist. Leaning her left elbow into his back she wrestled to grab his right hand. "Stop resisting you asshole!"_

" _Not on your life, lady."_

 _She reached further for his right arm, but the extra extension lined her head up with his, and he took the opportunity she hadn't been aware he was looking for. He snapped his head back with all his force and smashed into Emma's nose. The sickening crunch was a dead giveaway, Yep, it's broken, she thought as she recoiled. Scarlet took advantage of her momentary shock and pushed himself off the ground, she held onto his back, unwilling to let him get away. Her head swam in dizziness from the force of the blow to her nose._

" _Scarlet, give it up, my partner is right around the corner, surrender now and he won't have to hurt you."_

 _She took his grunt for a no as he propelled himself backward and into the wall. She hit so hard that her head smacked back and her breath left her chest, her body went limp as she fell to the ground._

" _Killian?" she wheezed from where she was lying on the ground trying to catch her breath. He was trying to tell her something but her ears were ringing and she couldn't hear a thing. She reached her hand up to him, but it was so heavy. "Killian, wait!" she called out as he took off._

Emma still didn't know at what point she'd completely lost consciousness that day. She quickly wiped at her eyes when the nurse called her back.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Swan."

Emma nodded politely, not quite able to speak over the lump that had formed in her throat. She was ready for this pain to end, she was ready to stop missing him.

"Let's go into this room, I just want to get your vitals and ask you a few questions before you see the doctor."

"It says that you have passed out several times and also you think you may be hallucinating? Can you tell me when the last time either one of these things occurred?

"Umm, last month I experienced both."

"And can you remember when your blackouts and hallucinations started?"

Emma hated the word hallucination, she felt like a psycho, like they were going to lock her up in the mental ward. "The first one was about five months ago, but that was on the job, I got into a scuffle with an idiot resisting arrest."

The blood pressure cuff around her arm felt abnormally tight, and the pounding of her heart thudded in her ears.

"Actually, come to think of it, about nine months ago I thought I saw my missing boyfriend, that could have been any number of things though, job stress, personal stress, bad coping techniques." She hated the sympathy she saw in the nurse's eyes. "Anyhow, hopefully today I will get some answers."

The nurse quickly averted her eyes, and set to filling in Emma's vitals on her chart. "Any other symptoms that you didn't mention last week at your appointment?"

"Nope."

"Alright then, follow me."

Emma followed as the woman led her down a hall and into the oddest looking exam room she'd ever seen.

"Go ahead and have a seat. The doctor will be with you shortly."

This room was an office, not an exam room Emma realized as she looked around. Made sense, since she'd been poked and prodded last week. Her eyes settled on an award framed on the wall, and she thought back to the last time she'd been commended. David and his damn misguided attempt to make her feel better.

 **Four months ago…**

" _The city of Portland would like to recognize Detective Emma Swan for her bravery in the field. Although always on her game, Detective Swan is responsible for single-handedly taking down one of our city's most notorious thieves, Will Scarlet. Thanks to Detective Swan, the city of Portland is a little safer, and a thief was put behind bars for a very long time."_

 _Emma gritted her teeth as she listened to the new mayor, August Booth, speak about the heroic duty she hadn't performed._

 _She had argued relentlessly with David, threatening him, begging him, and even asking him nicely to please admit that he was the one who had taken down Scarlet, after she'd been knocked out and gone to night-night land to dream once more about Killian._

 _He had been steadfast in his denial that he'd had anything to do with Scarlet's takedown. Told her that Scarlet was handcuffed and laid the fuck out when he got there, broken nose, two blackening eyes and a broken right arm._

 _She'd roared at him that she'd never even gotten his right arm in the cuffs, but David had laughed her off. Told her she was losing it, and he was going to have to 5150 her if she didn't let the charade go._

"Good afternoon, Ms. Swan."

Emma smiled complacently at her long time doctor, Anna Arendelle. She was normally annoyingly cheerful, bubbly as soda, and nice as pie. She was none of those things today. _Shit, maybe I rubbed off on her._ Emma barely took notice of the woman beside her, save for the fact that she was there.

"I'd like you to meet my sister, Dr. Elsa Arendelle, from the Oncology department."

Emma's heart freefell in her chest, her head spun, and the oxygen in the room evaporated. The pounding in her head was back. Bile backed up in her throat as she rose to excuse herself. "I have to…"

When she came to, she was laying on the couch in the same room. Two sets of eyes observed her, neither pair belonged to the person she wanted to see. "What happened?"

"You passed out," the sisters said. They looked at her before the redhead indicated for the blonde to take the reigns.

"As my sister told you, I am Elsa. I'm from the Oncology department. I have some results, and treatment options to go over with you. Do you have anyone you'd like to have with you?"

"No," Emma whispered. _I have no one_.

"Anna, can you get her some water?"

"Let's get you sitting up," Elsa said, reaching her hand out to Emma. "There is never any easy way to tell someone what I have to tell you, so I am just going to come out with it. You have stage four brain cancer, Emma. Based on your hallucinations I'd say your case is fairly advanced…"

 **About a year and a half ago…**

 _Leaning against the wooden railing looking out on the ocean, Emma felt a peace she only ever felt when Killian was with her. He had his arms wrapped around her middle, chin resting on her shoulder, and she knew this was who she wanted to be with for the rest of her life. She'd never been so sure of anything. She knew now her life had been loveless for all those years because she was going to eventually find the greatest love of all. Suddenly Emma wasn't afraid to tell him anymore, she needed to tell him._

 _Turning around in his arms, she placed both hands on his face, "I love you, Killian Jones." Then she kissed him, gently, slowly, reverently, lovingly. "I love you, forever."_

" _And I love you, Emma."_

"Emma. Emma, do you have any questions for me?"

She shook her head. Truth be told she hadn't heard much of what the doctor had said after the initial bombshell.

"You're going to want to act quick, this cancer is highly aggres-"

"No shit, Dr. Death! I haven't even gone through the fucking stages of grief since losing Killian, do you want me to just jump straight to acceptance and hope for you?" Emma stood up from the couch, grabbed her belongings and headed for the door. "Sorry, I know none of this shit is your concern. But I just can't do this right now."

"Please, Ms. Swan…"

The doctor's plea fell on deaf ears as Emma pushed open the door to the office and fled from the building. She found herself in the comforting confinement of Killian's car, surrounded by his scent. Starting it up she peeled out of the parking space and headed toward solace.


	2. Chapter 2

Before Emma was even cognizant of where she was, she threw the car in park. Exiting, she slammed the door behind her and headed out into the vast wilderness. _Solace._ A place close to her heart. She ran and ran, not sure what she was looking for, she headed deep into the woods, running from everything that was crushing her.

 **About two years ago...**

 _After months of fighting, bickering, sexual tension, innuendo, finally they'd cut through the bullshit. When they'd realized that they both wanted more than a quick fuck, he'd asked her out on a date. Told her he wanted to court her properly._

" _Where are we going?"_

" _Solace, Swan. Now have patience, you'll see soon enough."_

 _She was barely able to sit still, fidgeting nervously as she waited to arrive at their destination. She was elated to spend time with him outside of work, and away from prying eyes._

 _He chuckled at her, then reached over and squeezed her knee, "Relax, we're going somewhere peaceful, quiet, just us."_

" _I can't relax. I don't know… I'm just… happy."_

 _Killian pulled the car over, then turned in his seat. "Aye love, me too." Reaching out to caress her cheek he leaned forward and kissed her gently._

" _It's kind of a new feeling at my age, to be happy and excited like a little kid."_

" _You say it like you're eighty years old."_

" _I say it like I was a kid who didn't get happy and excited for too much."_

" _Why's that, lass. Spoiled brat? Stoic teen?"_

" _Foster kid." Emma held her breath and waited for his reaction. She fell a little bit in love with him the moment she saw no pity in his eyes, just a mutual understanding._

She didn't recognize where she was, she'd strayed from the path; it wasn't called the Forest City for nothing, there were thousands of trails, most of them well traversed. It was freezing outside, and drab clouds had begun to roll in. The wind whipped around her, and she cursed under her breath as she looked at the sky. It was going to pour, but what did it matter. She was dying anyhow, maybe hypothermia would take her sooner.

 **About two years ago...**

" _It's beautiful, Killian." There was awe in her voice, and admiration on her face. "How'd you find it?"_

" _This is my first time to this specific place. Have you never been hiking in the Forest City? All of the trails have little hidden oases like this."_

 _Emma shook her head, admittedly she didn't get to the great outdoors as much as she probably should. It was absolutely breathtaking._

" _I try to get out to hike at least once a month. With our job, sometimes I just need the solace of nature around me. You must make sure to always stay on the path though, Swan."_

" _Oh, yeah. Why's that?"_

" _Rumor has it there's a portal somewhere in this forest and it leads to a land with all manner of creatures, monsters, and supernatural beings."_

" _What is wrong with you?" she laughed. "And here I thought you were an intelligent, well balanced, healthy, red-blooded, male. Now I find out you believe in the boogie man?"_

" _Oi! I'm all those things, I just have an appreciation for other worldly beings, never say never."_

" _What is your proof they exist?"_

" _What is your proof they don't?"_

" _Fair point," she conceded._

" _Plus, you yourself are a siren, what more proof should I require?"_

Emma shivered uncontrollably as the rain began to cascade down in sheets. Her hair clung to her forehead and her clothes became heavy. She might've felt cleansed had she not been told mere hours before that she had a poison running rampant inside her body. Spotting an enclosure in a huge rock, Emma jogged toward it and took cover.

 **About two years ago...**

" _Didn't you check the weather forecast?"_

" _Of course I did!" Killian answered offendedly. He opened the pack he'd carried up and pulled out a nylon bag. "Let it never be said that Killian Jones is unprepared," he gloated as he pitched quite possibly the smallest tent Emma had ever seen._

" _We're staying?"_

" _We're not walking out in this weather. This darling is a flash flood. We're on high ground so shelter in this one man tent is all we require. We won't flood up here."_

" _Well it's gonna have to be a one man and one woman tent, now."_

" _After you, milady," he extended his hand and bowed low._

 _She snagged his hand and pulled him inside the tent giggling the whole time. It was a crowded affair as Killian dug through his bag of tricks. He pulled out a small battery operated lantern, then set to work rolling out a sleeping bag. They took their shoes off and sat opposite each other._

" _Are you a little cold, Swan?"_

 _She looked up at him to see he was leering at her breasts. Her nipples were freezing to the point of painful, and no doubt poking through her soaked cotton shirt. "This was all part of your plan, wasn't it? Proper courting, my ass."_

 _Killian licked his lips and continued to appraise her, clothes clinging to her every curve, goosebumps lining her soft skin, lips begging to be tasted. "That would be very bad form, love," he whispered, though his devil may care grin belied his words._

" _What are you waiting for then, Jones? You gonna get your ass over here and warm me up, or let me freeze to death?"_

 _He only needed to be asked once, pouncing on her like prey to his predator._

What she wouldn't give to have that one man tent now. And she'd give double for Killian. She shivered as the wind continued to wail and the torrential rains pelted down. As the adrenaline of running through the forest began to wear off, the emotions began to creep in. _I'm dying_ , she thought. But if she were honest with herself, her spirit had been slowly dying since Killian had disappeared. Trying to accept that he was gone forever, dead, had sent her spiraling into a hallucination riddled existence where she was now seeing him. _Maybe this is for the best._ Tears welled up in her eyes and she wondered if they were tears of sadness, or tears from the thought that maybe she'd see him again after death.

She laid down on the sodden ground, unwilling to try to find her way out. Out of the forest, out of her dark reality… unwilling to fight against the inevitable. Emma curled in on herself and wished for the world to swallow her up. Sobs trembled through her whole body as she let loose her emotions, all of them. Long, painful cries flowed from her as she unabashedly released everything she'd held in for the past year.

Anger at Killian for leaving her in this world alone.

Heartbreak at having lost the only love she'd ever known.

Hatred at the cancer that was going to ultimately consume her.

She cried until there was nothing left but the harsh, jagged breaths that came from being cried out to exhaustion. She held tightly to the pieces of memory on her chain, letting the bite of the metals pressed into her palm serve as a reminder of what she'd lost.

Emma immediately knew when peaceful sleep had come for her, that she was dreaming, when she heard his gruff lilt scolding her for not taking care of herself. She didn't even care if it was a dream.

"Killian," she murmured, "I miss you." He scooped her up, and she felt like she was home. She needed to tell him so much before he left again. "I love you, Killian."

Emma slowly blinked into consciousness, eyes opening and focusing on unfamiliar surroundings. "What the hell? Where am I?" She looked around the small area from her supine position on the bed. There was a fire burning in a small fireplace, a small table with two chairs, a refrigerator, a couch, and a dimly lit lantern off in a corner. The windows were all covered so she couldn't tell what time of day it was. Deciding that the need to use the bathroom and get a glass of water outweighed the dull headache she was fighting, she rose from the bed.

After tripping over her clumsy feet on the way to _and_ from the bathroom, she made her way to the tiny kitchen area. She grabbed a glass from the cupboard, filled it from the tap after letting it run for a minute, and drank deeply. Her stomach growled loudly in response to the icy water. Emma felt a bit like Goldilocks, she was invading on whoever lived here, whoever had so kindly pulled her in from the woods after she'd conked out.

It was obvious the place had been occupied recently, perhaps there was fresh food. Emma rummaged around through the few cupboards, to no avail. Since there was no porridge cooking for this Goldilocks, she made her way to the refrigerator. Placing her hand to pull it open, she paused, it felt like an invasion to open a stranger's fridge.

 **About a year and a half ago...**

" _You look good in my shirt, love. Perhaps you should start dressing that way everyday?"_

 _Emma was bent over his refrigerator, in his shirt and nothing else, looking for something to snack on. All the activity they'd been engaging in had her ravenous. "I'm starving," she said, ignoring the compliment save for the blush it'd put on her cheeks._

" _Me too," he growled grabbing her around the waist and pulling her against his hard body. He nipped and sucked at her neck roughly, "I'll always be starving for you."_

 _Emma moaned as he caressed her body with his hands and mouth. "Baby, you can have your fill anytime, but I was actually speaking of food right now."_

" _I know, darling." Killian picked her up and sat her on the counter. "Allow me to prepare you something."_

Emma sighed morosely as yet another memory assaulted her. _Bitter, bittersweet memories, mourning, and impending death, how much longer did the doctor say I had?_ Emma thought. At least now she wouldn't have to wonder how long it would take to get over Killian. The answer was she'd never be over him, not until the day she died, and that was now remarkably closer.

Her stomach growled again, pulling her from her well deserved melancholy. Looking at her watch, which told her it was three in the afternoon, she realized she'd slept almost an entire day. It'd been even longer since she'd eated, and there was no way she wanted to try to venture back to her car without eating a little something first. Surely this stranger who'd brought her in wouldn't mind her nibbling a little something before she took her leave.

Opening the door, Emma screamed and slammed it shut. "What the fuck!" Peering inside once more she confirmed what she'd seen the first time. Piled inside the refrigerator was nothing but bag after bag of blood. Closing it quietly, Emma turned and tiptoed to the front door. Macabre thoughts of a psycho killer harvesting her organs and drinking her blood swam through her head as she inched toward the door. Who knew if this crazy was still in the cabin.

"Goddammit!" she muttered when she tripped again. All pretense was forgotten when she regained her balance, yanking the front door open, she took off running into the forest. Emma didn't try to glean any sense of direction as the only thought in her head was _self preservation?_

Sharp branches caught at her clothes and scratched her skin as she continued running. Each heaving breath became more painful than the last the further she ran. She was running out of steam.

"Ouch!" Emma stumbled to the ground after her foot came down on a rock buried under the foliage. Falling to the ground she grabbed her ankle in pain. "Fuck, what the fuck else? Huh? What else you wanna throw my way?" she screamed toward the darkening evening sky. Picking herself up, she continued limping away from the cabin of horrors. With no idea where she was heading, shooting ankle pain, the elements setting in, not to mention her already established problems, Emma was about to give up. "Cell phone!" she exclaimed, digging in the pocket of her jacket.

"What the hell?" Looking down at herself it dawned on Emma that she wasn't wearing her jacket anymore, or even the same clothes she'd had on yesterday. Even more confusing was the fact that they were _her_ clothes, just not the same ones. _I've completely lost it, I've gone off the deep end. Emma Swan, loony tune._

She tried to cheer herself up as she continued to limp on what was surely a severely swollen ankle, by telling herself that her phone probably wouldn't have a signal anyway. She walked for what felt like miles when she came to a stream and sat down next to it. Looking at her reflection she decided to drink the water, "What's the worst that'll happen? Already dying, may as well drink up." She scooped the water and drank to soothe her parched throat.

"This is the end," Emma said, deciding she could be as dramatic as she damn well pleased. "I'm tired, hurt, cold, sick, sad, hungry, lost… alright universe. You've won. I give up."

Laying back on the damp forest floor she looked up at the trees, she could see bits of the dark sky peeking through. A few tears welled in her eyes, and she chuckled at the irony. Usually giving up meant not caring anymore. Apparently Emma Swan still cared. Spotting the first star of the evening she focused intently, "Star light, star bright, First star I see tonight; I wish I may, I wish I might, Have the wish I wish tonight."

Squeezing her eyes tightly, Emma made a wish.

"What'd you wish for, love?"

Inhaling audibly, Emma jumped in her spot. She hadn't heard that voice in… well since she'd dreamed it a few hours ago. "Dammit. I wished it wrong." She jumped again at the loud laughter that came from him. He seemed so real.

"How so?"

"Well, I wished to be with Killian, uh, with you."

"And here I am."

"I meant to wish to be with you forever, after I die. Not in dreams and hallucinations."

"When you die?"

Emma shook her head at the surreal feeling. "I cannot believe I am sitting here having a conversation with the hallucination form of the love of my life. Or… have I died? Am I dead? Did the psycho from the house of horrors kill me already? Did I die last night in the freezing rain? Are you here to guide me to the next dimension or realm or whatever it's called?"

The hallucination laughed at her again, and she found herself laughing along with the familiar, and sorely missed sound.

"Maybe I can answer some of your questions, lass. Where to start?" He rubbed his palm along the scruff of his chin like he always did when he was contemplating something. "First off, no, you're not dead. I am not here to lead you to another plain of existence or anything like that. And I do believe _I am_ the psycho from the house of horrors, as you called it."

Emma sat up quickly, "What do you mean?"

"What if I told you I am your Killian, and I am real?"

"I'd say my imagination is a cruel fucking asshole."

"I'm not from your imagination, Swan."

"Stop it! Only the real Killian gets to call me that." The hollow feeling in her chest and heart ached now. Only he had ever called her Swan like that. This was torturous, having her own imagination play tricks on her. "I've been seeing you for the last year, you've never said a word, the real Killian never would have done that." Emma pinched herself hard, trying to wake herself, or snap out of the haze.

"You can pinch yourself all you want, but I assure you, you're not dreaming, and you are not hallucinating."

"Prove it."

Emma sat frozen as he walked toward her then sat down next to her. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side. She relished the feeling of him, she could smell him, this was by far the realest of any encounter she'd had with him over the past year.

"Would you be able to feel me? Smell me?"

"Maybe," Emma murmured. "The mind is a powerful entity."

"Then perhaps this," he said holding her bracelet out to her, "I know you're wearing the matching necklace, _my_ necklace."

Emma jumped up, and Killian followed suit. Sure any rendering of Killian would know about the necklace and bracelet, _her mind_ conjured him. But how the hell was he holding the bracelet that was on her wrist. Automatically reaching for her wrist, she realized it wasn't there anymore. She stared at him with wide eyes.

"Please don't be afraid of me."

"I'm not afraid, I'm just confused. Where did you get that?"

He reached out to fasten the bracelet around her wrist. "It fell off where I found you passed out and half frozen last evening."

Emma hesitantly reached out to touch his face, "Is it really you?"

"Aye Swan, in the flesh... so to speak."

"Killian?" She threw her arms around his neck and cried, but the tears weren't of sadness this time. She cried tears of joy as she rained kisses on his face.

"What… how are you here?"

"I was-"

"I don't care. I don't care how you're here. I'm just glad you're here."

"Me too, love. I'm sorry it took me so long."

Taking her by the hand he started to lead her back the way she'd come from, then stopped. "You're hurt, allow me." Killian picked her up bridal style so she wouldn't have to walk on her bad ankle.

"It's really you, isn't it?" she whispered.

"Aye."

Emma broke down into sobs. "I… Killian… where have you been? Why did you leave me?"

"I'll explain everything. First, let's get you warmed up."

She hit his chest in frustration as a new pain came over her. "I'm… I'm dying. I finally found you, and now I'm dying. The universe wanted to kick me one last time."

"Emma, calm down, I've got you, you're not going to die out here. There is much we need to talk about. Working yourself up won't help." Killian looked into her eyes, beseeched her, "Rest, love, I'll wake you when we arrive."

She was out before she could argue about needing to stay awake so he wouldn't disappear again.

~CS~

When she woke next, she was in yet another unfamiliar place. "Killian?" she called out into the darkness.

"I'm here, Swan."

She looked across the small room to where he sat at a desk reading.

"I thought it was all a dream again."

"I assure you, I am not a dream. Possibly a nightmare, but not a dream."

"What?"

"Never mind, lass. I know you have many questions, and I have a lot of explaining to do. I want to attempt to tell you everything right now, that way you have all the information before you make a decision."

"A decision about what?"

"About whether or not you wish to stay with me."

"I'll stay with you forever. My forever just isn't that long anymore… I'm dying."

"Why do you keep saying you're dying?"

"Because I am. I was diagnosed with stage four brain cancer the day I wandered into the woods. I don't have long, but I've already decided, I don't care how short the time, I want to be with you."

"Oh, Emma, no my love, I'm so sorry I haven't been here for you. That you had to receive that news on your own."

"It was harder to lose you. So no matter what you have to say, I'm not going to change my mind."

"Please let me tell you everything before you decide. I don't want to get my hopes up if you decide you can't bear to be with me."

Emma rolled her eyes at him, "Not gonna happen."

"Be that as it may, allow me to put my eternal soul at ease."

"Well at least come keep me warm?" she asked, patting the empty bed.

A pained expression crept across Killian's face. "After we talk."

"Okay," Emma agreed, pulling the blanket snugger to her body. "Have you met someone else, Killian? Were you with someone else this whole time?" She knew the questions seemed out of the blue, but he had left for a year, reappeared, hadn't so much as kissed her, wouldn't sit with her, and was acting altogether odd.

"Of course not! I love only you, I'm just not sure you should love me anymore."

"No one tells me who I should or should not love, Killian Jones, not even you."

He chuckled at that, and Emma smiled in return, glad to see him a bit more at ease.

"Okay, so enough with the cloak and dagger act, just tell me what you need to tell me."

"Christ you make it sound simple." Killian ran his hand through his hair nervously and bounced the ball of his foot.

"It is simple!" she coaxed with a hopeful smile, trying to convince him to tell her whatever secret he thought he'd had to hide for a year.

"I'm a vampire."

Emma laughed, not just a little, but really bellowed. She clutched at her stomach when it started to ache. "Spectacular ice breaker, now go ahead."

Killian threw his hands in the air, unsurprised that she didn't believe that curve ball. "Right then. The day that you stayed home sick while Mary Margaret, David, and I went hiking, I was attacked."

Emma's laughter stopped when he unceremoniously plunged into his story.

"We were heading up toward Cartographer's Bluff, I was in front of the lovebirds, for obvious reasons, when I saw movement off in the distance. I followed thinking maybe it was a deer or elk. That's when it happened. I had no idea what it was. It attacked and dragged me away."

Silent tears slid down Emma's cheeks as she listened to Killian.

"I don't know how long I was unconscious for, but when I came to the first time, I was overwhelmed with fire coursing through my body. I was disoriented, scared, and angry. I was in and out of consciousness and each time there was a woman who told me I'd be okay. When I finally emerged from whatever had taken hold over me, I was different. I didn't know how at first, but I knew I was different. Eventually the woman revealed herself again, she told me she'd teach me everything about our kind."

"Your kind?"

Killian eyeballed her, silently pleading with her to let him finish, lest he chicken out.

"Sorry, continue," she said softly.

"She taught me how to survive, took me into her home, this home. Eventually she wanted more from me, she wanted things I couldn't give. I told her about you, hoping she'd understand that while I appreciated all she'd done for me, my heart belonged to you.

She became enraged. Said she couldn't believe I would choose a mortal over her, after all she'd done for me. After _creating_ me. When I asked her what she meant, she told me she'd made me, she had wanted a companion after being alone for decades."

Emma's breath was stuck in her throat as Killian's story took root, as she began to understand exactly what he was telling her.

"I went into my own tailspin of rage, I couldn't believe what she was telling me, that she'd selfishly taken and changed my life to suit hers. That she'd irrevocably changed my future, _our future, Swan_. When she threatened you, I had no other choice."

"What choice," Emma asked hesitantly when Killian paused.

"I… I killed her, Emma." He looked at her in earnest, willing her to accept the truth of his words. "She left me no choice, I couldn't stand the thought of your life ending."

"Oh, Killian," Emma cried. She stood up, not caring that he wanted to wait until after she'd heard him out. She couldn't handle seeing him in pain any longer. Kneeling on the floor in front of where he sat in his chair, she reached a hand up to run through his hair. "Killian, it's okay."

"I'm a murderer, Swan. Whether she deserved it or not, whether all of them deserved it or not, I am a murderer."

"I don't care, I love you, no matter what."

"I love you, too." Killian slid from his chair kneeling as she was and closed his arms around her waist.

Emma comforted him as he buried his head in the crook of her neck. "It was you, wasn't it? It was you who drained all my murderers? Is that what you meant by all of them?"

"Aye, lass. Still sharp as ever." Killian stood up, lifted Emma and walked to the bed. Tucking her beneath the blanket, he stayed atop it, and laid his head in her lap. "It was the evening after I killed her, three months into my new life, and the urge to see you was so strong it physically hurt. I closed my eyes and I remember thinking about what it was like to hold you, what you felt like, smelled like, then suddenly I wasn't in my room anymore. When I opened my eyes, there you were. I didn't know how I'd done it, but I'd transported to you. I heard you say my name, Swan. It was the best moment of my new existence. Then I saw you collapse, I heard the pain in your voice, and it became the worst."

She'd missed this, laying together, touching, talking. This was by far the strangest conversation they'd ever had, but she was okay with it, she was just overjoyed to have him back. Emma had been running her fingers through his hair, but stopped abruptly. "Is that why you stayed away for so long?"

"It is."

"Why did you come back?" she asked out of genuine curiosity, before resuming her ministrations.

"Because I'm weak. Once I learned I could transport, I started studying your cases at the station during the night. The first time you saw me was at the crime scene of my maker's last victim. For all her evil, it's a smart way to live. I decided I'd wait for you to solve your cases, then take your murderers. They would be condemned anyhow. I never meant for you to spot me. I selfishly needed to see you, and there were many times that I did, and you never had a clue. But then there were those times that you did, the last time was the hardest. I watched you that night after you drank and cried yourself to sleep, and I vowed it was the last time. That was until you quite literally showed up in my neck of the woods, intent on freezing to death while passed out in the pouring rain."

"Is that how I ended up in my own clothes? You transported home to get them."

He nodded his head with a grin on his face. _Home_. Emma was catching on quickly and adapting quite easily.

"What about Scarlet, was that you assisting?"

Killian chuckled, "Yes, that was me. I would love to see that shiny commendation you earned."

"I didn't earn it, you did. David and I fought for weeks about who did and didn't take Scarlet out. I finally gave up when he half jokingly threatened to 5150 me."

"Sorry, love, I was just trying to keep you safe."

"I know," she spoke softly. "So…"

"Ask away, I want you to know everything before you choose. Anything goes."

Emma had thousands of thoughts swimming around in her head. The problem was, when there are that many thoughts, and so much that is not understood it is hard to even know where to begin. She tried to sort through them to ask the pertinent ones first. "What do you need to survive?"

"I wasn't joking when I said I am vampire. Surprisingly many of our television shows got enough of the bits and pieces correct, must be some vamps in Hollywood." Killian stood up and walked toward her, then held his hand out.

Taking his hand without hesitation, Emma let him lead her to a closet. When he opened the door there was a ladderwell. Looking at Killian's calm face, cocked eyebrow, and inquisitive eyes, she read in his expression the request for her to trust him. And she did, implicitly. He climbed up first and Emma followed.

"Hey, my ankle doesn't hurt anymore, do you have magical healing powers?"

When they emerged in the room above, Killian closed the small hatch in the floor. "I'm not sure I'd call what I have _magical_ , but yes, I fixed you up."

"That's a pretty handy skill," she commented as she looked around. She was surrounded by a place she'd been before. "So this is what I tripped on like fifty times earlier today," Emma said, pointing to the handle of the hatch door they'd just come through. "The house of horrors," she murmured, eyeballing the familiar room. Her clothes from yesterday were laid out in front of the fire, and her phone was plugged in.

Killian chuckled, "I suppose, but why do you call it that? I thought I did a pretty nice job of making it look as though a vampire does not live here."

"Next time keep the blood in your downstairs hideaway," she deadpanned.

"Ah, so you saw that. That's what I was going to show you, that is what I subsist on."

"Only blood?"

"Aye."

"Do you want my blood?"

Killian's eyes widened and his pupils visibly dilated all at the same time. He raised his hand to scratch nervously behind his ear. "Aye," he whispered hoarsely. "Does that scare you? Disgust you?"

Emma stepped into his space. "Nothing about you scares me, or disgusts me. But will my blood poison you? Because of the cancer."

"I'm immune to human disease as I'm not human anymore, I'm not even alive."

She placed her hands on his hips and fixed him with what she hoped was her most assured expression. "Then drink," she offered, craning her neck for his perusal.

Killian grabbed her hands in his and brought them between their bodies. He hung his head and inhaled deeply. "Gods, Swan. You'll be the death of my undead soul."

"What's wrong?" Emma stepped back, feeling the sting of his rejection.

"I want to, believe me, I want to. But I need you to be sure. I need you to take more than a few minutes. Weigh your options."

"What options, Killian?" She was growing incensed with his failure to understand that all she wanted was to spend the rest of her days with him. "I can live and die alone, or live and die with you, it's a no-fucking-brainer. Why won't you let me choose it?"

"I know it's hard for you to understand, but I need to know that you've considered everything I am saying. I would never forgive myself if you regretted one moment of what we share from now until…"

"Until I die," she finished for him.

"Well, not necessarily. If you'd let me finish you stubborn wench."

Emma scoffed, then zipped her lips.

"I can offer you forever."

"Forever," she repeated, then asked, "how can you offer me forever?"

"I can make you immortal."

Emma's breath hitched in her throat. It was one thing to be standing in front of a vampire, it was another ball game to consider becoming one. She didn't know a damn thing about vampiring. She barely knew how to be human anymore.

"What about…"

"That's why I don't want your answer tonight. I want you to think over the what abouts, and the what ifs. Right now you've been missing for just over a full day, everyone is worried about you. I need you to go back to Mary Margaret and David. Think on everything love."

"No, I don't want to leave you!" Emma's voice was panicky as the thought of being separated overwhelmed her. "I just found you again, please, don't leave."

"I don't have to, I can be with you at night. During the day of course, I can't."

"What really happens if you're out in the sunlight?"

"Can't say that I've tried, just out of fear of spontaneously combusting," he chuckled despite the morbid thought. "According to my maker, we don't just explode, or melt at first exposure to the sun. It would take a few minutes, and if we were completely clothed and covered, maybe even a little longer. One of the benefits of living out here in Forest City is most of the year it offers a good enough cover of foliage during the daytime. That is one of the things you'd have to consider, Swan. You'd never be able to bask in sunlight, no more beach days."

Emma stepped back toward him, and she saw the way his face contorted with pleasure and pain. "Killian, I don't care about any of that," she wrapped her arms around his neck and carded a hand through his hair, then continued, "I care about you."

"And I you," Killian whispered resting his forehead against hers.

"Can I… can I kiss you?"

"Emma," he groaned. "I-"

Before he could say another word Emma pressed her lips to his. Innocently, only a chaste thing, followed by small pecks to his lips. "Just as soft as I remember." She pulled her head back and licked her lips as if savoring his taste. "God, I've missed you."

Killian's eyes were transfixed on her, blue as always, but significantly paler than they'd been before. "Love, I think you should go now."

"I thought you said we could be together at night?"

"I thought I was strong enough to be around you, Emma. But right now I'm walking a thin line between man and monster, and I'm asking you to let me take you home."

"What do you need? You can drink in front of me, from me if you want."

"I'm having a hard time with how close you are, how intoxicating you smell, how divine I know you'll taste." He broke from their embrace and scrubbed his hands over his face. "Christ, this is not how I pictured it."

Emma smiled at the chagrin in his voice, he was embarrassed. "There's a perk of being a vampire, you don't blush like you used to. Although, I always found it cute."

"I'm glad you're enjoying my turmoil."

Flipping her hair away from her neck she sauntered toward Killian. "There'd be no turmoil if you'd just drink. I promise, it's okay with me, I… I want you to… taste me."

Killian growled as he pinned her with a hard stare, his jaw clenched and released as he weighed her words. "You always were a damn stubborn woman."

Emma's eyes dilated as he swooped down on her and pulled her against his body. She welcomed his mouth to hers as he kissed her, not chastely like a moment ago. The feel of his tongue against hers for the first time in a year was enough to bring tears back to her eyes. "Yes, babe, take what you need." She heard a click and froze when she felt the sharp protrusion against her lip.

"Sorry love, did I cut you?"

Emma giggled at his worry. "I'd think you would know just as quickly as me, given your new tastes."

"Fair point, but did I hurt you?"

"No, Killian. Stop worrying." Emma rolled her eyes at him, he was vampire and still more chivalrous than all the men she'd ever known.

"I missed that eye roll, believe it or not."

Emma rolled her eyes again just for his benefit. Palming his cheeks, she rubbed a thumb over one of his fangs. Her eyes swirled with wonder as she felt the long, sharp, porcelain weapon, and the broken groan that escaped Killian did not go unnoticed. Shivering, she contemplated why she was turned on in this moment. Should she be afraid? Appalled? She was anything but as she gazed at Killian and his fangy smile. "You're so goddamn gorgeous. Come here."

Emma led him to the large plush recliner in the corner of the room. Pushing him into the seat, she followed him down sitting in his lap, then resumed kissing him. She explored his mouth with her tongue, including running it from top to tip of each fang. She relished the pained whimpers that Killian emitted. Breaking the kiss, Emma tilted her head to the side and guided his lips to her neck. "Drink."

Killian kissed her gently, one hand on the back of her neck massaging, and the other around her waist. He nipped and sucked at her jawline then toward her ear, before settling at her jugular vein. He inhaled deeply, and just about purred as he exhaled his shaky breath. "Are you-"

"Do not fucking ask me if I am sure one more time, Killian Jones. Yes, I'm sure," she cut him off. She was ready for it, impatient even.

Her words were all the invitation Killian needed.

Emma called out his name at the shock of the intrusion, it wasn't painful, it was… it was magical. She felt a thrumming run the length of her body, she felt lit up from head to toe, like she was vibrating.

When he finally pulled deeply from her vein she didn't recognize the high pitched moan that escaped her lips. She'd never been into porn star noise making, but goddamn, it felt so good, she felt alive, rejuvenated even though she was the one giving. She felt it everywhere, including _there_ ; gingerly maneuvering so that she could straddle his lap, Emma immediately felt that he was as turned on as she was.

"Fuck," he growled against her neck. "Forgive me, love."

Before Emma could register what there possibly was to forgive, she had the sensation of falling, flying, and floating all at once. Her brain was foggy, body weightless, and her heart hammered in her chest. "Killian?"

"I promise love, I will come for you tomorrow night."

"Killian, wait! Don't leave me." Emma's eyes welled with tears as she realized she was in her bedroom, sitting on top of the bed she hadn't slept in since he'd... "No," she cried into the silence of her room. It had been so real. She stood up off the bed, shivering at how it seemed even emptier than it had for the last year, and trudged to the couch, too distraught to even grab the bottle of rum before curling up under her blanket and crying until she fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Emma was woken by loud pounding on her door and two concerned voices yelling her name. Rising from the couch she squinted at the blazing sunlight filtering in through her window. "Coming!" she shouted with annoyance.

"Oh my god, Emma! Where the hell have you been?" Mary Margaret's words were as strong as the hug she wrapped Emma in. "We've been so worried."

David hugged both women, sighing in relief, "Thank god, you're okay."

"I'm fine guys." Emma broke away from the group hug, and sheltered her eyes while walking to the window to draw the curtain.

"Where were you?" Mary Margaret pressed.

"Wait, how'd you know I was back?"

"Your car is in the driveway," David said as if it should be obvious.

Emma's eyes went wide, before quickly schooling her features. "Geez, I've been gone like a day. I went for a hike after my appointment and got stranded in the rain, I decided to find high ground and rough it." She immediately regretted mentioning the appointment when she saw both of their eyebrows raise in expectation.

"So? What'd they say?"

"I have uh… it's just a vitamin deficiency. In fact, that reminds me, I have to go pick up my prescriptions."

"Come out with us for breakfast, first?" Mary Margaret asked.

"No, I can't, I have to shower, when I got home last night I went straight to bed. I'll catch up with you guys later, okay?" She wasn't trying to be rude as she ushered them toward the door. But she had to figure this out. How the hell did she get home? How was her car back? How much time had she lost?

"Alright, we can take a hint," David said, throwing his arm around her shoulder and giving her a half hug. "Dinner tonight?"

"Perfect."

"Our place or yours?" he asked.

"Mine." Emma slapped a smile on her face, ready to agree to anything just to get them out of the house.

"And never, ever do that to us again. Call or text… or something."

"Got it, mama bear," Emma ribbed Mary Margaret. "Who knew I'd have such wonderful parents as an adult, after a childhood with none."

"I'm going to start taking that nickname as a compliment," Mary Margaret laughed.

Emma just rolled her eyes, smile still firmly in place until she shut the door behind them.

"What the hell?" She was more confused than ever now. She'd finally gone completely off the deep end and created that alternate universe where it was just her and Killian, but she had also blocked out a complete period of time where she would've had to drive herself home.

Deciding to investigate, she walked out to her car, but not before donning her darkest pair of sunglasses. "It's so fucking bright," she muttered, the irony was not lost on her that the weather was in direct opposition to her current mood.

Opening up her car, she sat down in the driver's seat and was immediately assaulted by his scent. It was just as strong as her imagination had conjured last night. She was about to go back inside when she noticed that the seat was scooted too far back, she pressed the toggle to adjust it to her settings.

Reaching over to grab her jacket from the passenger seat, she startled slightly as she remembered she also wasn't able to account for how she'd come to be in different clothes than she'd worn yesterday. When she lifted the jacket a piece of paper fell in her lap, picking it up Emma was bewildered to see Killian's unique handwriting.

 _Swan,_

 _Please forgive me love, I did not want to leave you last night. I have been away from you for too long and I was ill prepared for your presence. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to control myself. As promised, I will return to you tonight._

 _Yours,_

 _Killian_

"Oh my god! It was real?" Emma's free hand flew to her neck, praying for the mark upon her body that would further prove he existed.

Grabbing all her belongings that had been magically waiting in her car, including her phone Emma raced back into the house. Her heartbeat was frantic as she approached her bathroom, hand still caressing her neck. When Emma looked in the mirror and revealed the area, she was exhilarated to see two faint puncture marks. She didn't even care if it was insane. Killian was alive! Well, technically undead, but he was still in this world.

There was so much to do. She started with a long, hot shower where she washed away the grime from her wilderness trip and the anguish of a year. After dressing in leggings and a tank top, and primping for the day, a day where she would see Killian, she cracked open her laptop. She researched everything she could about vampires, searched the world wide web like an addict, until her stomach audibly protested its neglect over the last two days.

Steak, Emma thought. Steak sounded beyond divine. She didn't really feel like sitting out at a restaurant by herself, yet she didn't want company, at least not the company of anyone who was available. Running to the grocery store she bought a family size pack of boneless ribeyes and headed for home. She pulled out all she needed to prepare one of her favorite steaks, thinly sliced garlic inserted into slits in the steak, marinated in worcestershire and barbecued to medium well.

The moment she set to her task though she felt as if she was going to lose her lunch, a lunch she hadn't eaten. Chalking it up to being over hungry, she forewent the prep. Emma practically skipped outside to light the barbecue and threw the slab of meat on the grill. It smelled divine as she waited impatiently for it to finish cooking. _Medium will do_ , she thought as she plated up her very plain steak.

Emma cursed her impatience as she felt the sting along her skin from standing too close to the barbecue for too long. As she cut into the steak though, she realized she couldn't have been standing there too long as the steak was rare, not medium, or medium rare, but rare rare. And it looked delectable.

She practically moaned when the first bite graced her palette. It was so tender and juicy… and bloody. Her eyes popped open, having closed them in delight of the first taste. "No way," she murmured. Sensitivity to the brightness of the sun, aversion to garlic, skin tingling after standing outside, eating a bloody steak? "Am I…" Emma's hands shot to her mouth where she felt her teeth, _no fangs,_ she thought with an air of disappointment.

She laughed out loud at the absurdity of her situation. Either she was experiencing some post bite symptoms, or she was psychosomatically exuding vampire traits. Either way, _what the ever loving fuck_? She'd been ready to call it quits two days ago, now she had a renewed vigor for life, or whatever she would be living with Killian. Because yes, she already knew her answer. She wasn't going to live without him for one more moment, she was going to embrace a future with him, even if it was different than the one she'd hoped for a year ago.

Emma spent the remainder of her day researching more about vampires and tidying up her place, even the bedroom that she hadn't slept in for a year. She had every intention of bedding her man tonight, she would've last night if given the chance. She freshened up and dressed for the evening while the sheets finished drying, then made the bed. Dusk was settling outside and her body tingled in anticipation. She chuckled when she heard the knock on her door. He was earlier than she'd have thought was possible for him to be out. But perhaps so long as the sun wasn't shining, he was okay, or maybe he was just as impatient as her.

"You don't have to knock, you've obviously taken to coming and going as you please," she called out as she walked to the door.

"Hi!" Mary Margaret and David greeted enthusiastically.

"Hi," Emma croaked, after staring blankly at them for a good five seconds.

"And what do you mean coming and going as we please?" Mary Margaret questioned.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we were more than entitled to stop by this morning after you went missing," David added. "And we're invited tonight!"

"Right, of course, " Emma said. "I thought you were somebody, uh, nevermind. My mistake, you are most definitely allowed to check up on me, and yes, I did in fact invite you over tonight." _Fuck, fuck, fuck_. What could she tell them, she couldn't say she forgot, or wasn't feeling well. She was all dolled up, hair, some light makeup, a dress, heels. _Shit!_

"You're so dressed up... oh my gosh! Do you have a date tonight? You look like you're ready to go on a date. Oh my god, she has a date," Mary Margaret gushed. "I'm so happy for you, Emma! Let us get out of your hair."

"I don't have a-"

"Give her the wine, David. Maybe she and this mystery man want to get a little liquored up."

"I don't-"

"Do we know him? Nevermind, details tomorrow! Let's go honey," Mary Margaret told David all but pushing him back through the still open door.

"I don't have a date," Emma yelled, then softly added, "as such." Because really, how was she going to explain that she was going to see her missing boyfriend who was now a vampire? How was she going to explain that her friends weren't going to see her again? She wasn't questioning her decision, of that she was one hundred percent decided. But the finer points, the particulars, those were going to take more thought than she'd even thought to consider.

"You got all dressed up for us?" David asked suspiciously.

She wasn't going to lie to them, but she didn't feel like just busting out with the truth was going to help matters either. David would have her 5150'd before Killian got there. Turning swiftly, she headed to the kitchen where she uncorked the bottle of wine, took out three glasses, poured every last drop evenly between them, promptly handed her guests their drinks then drank deeply before either could offer up a toast.

"Look, I don't know how to possibly say what I need to say without you both thinking that I need to be committed. I'm just going to have to show you. But while we wait, let me tell you about my appointment."

"You're kind of not making too much sense, Emma, are you sure you're okay?" Mary Margaret asked.

"I'm sure I am going to be," she answered cryptically.

"What are we waiting for?" David asked.

"You'll know it when you see it, of that I am sure."

"Ooookay," Mary Margaret drew out her word as though she already thought Emma was crazy. "Then while we wait for the big reveal I want to hear about these vitamin deficiencies and what the doctor is doing to fix them."

"Well we still have to eat right? How does steak sound?"

The Nolan's both nodded their heads signaling that steak sounded great. "I'll go light up the grill," David said. He barbequed the steaks while Emma and Mary Margaret prepared a salad and roasted potatoes.

After some small talk about office gossip and the latest cases while dinner was prepared, the trio sat down to eat. "So, Emma, what's the news?" David asked.

"So, it turns out I don't have any vitamin deficiencies after all."

"Well that's good news," Mary Margaret beamed.

"I actually have stage four brain cancer," Emma said, cutting into her steak and avoiding eye contact. She didn't want to see their pity, but this could hopefully bolster the support she would want from them when it came time to tell them when, why, and how she was leaving them.

Mary Margaret's fork and knife clattered to her plate and she fixed Emma with a stern glare. "That's not even funny!"

David just stared at Emma, mouth slightly ajar, silently assessing her demeanor.

"It's not supposed to be funny, M. It's not a joke." Emma spoke in a low voice before glancing briefly at her friends pain filled eyes. Hopefully Killian would get there soon so she could tell them that despite her diagnosis, she was not sentenced to death.

"What are the treatment options? When do you start? How can we help? We'll have to talk to HR to get you taken off the rota-"

"David, I, uh, I'm not going to seek treatment, it won't be nece-"

David stood up from the table so hastily that the chair flew back and tipped over hitting the floor with a clatter. "What the hell do you mean you're not getting treated? Over my dead body!"

Mary Margaret began to sob loudly in her seat as David stood with his hands on his hips, face red with anger. This was not at all how she had seen things playing out. _Where the fuck is Killian?_ "As I was saying, treatment won't be necessary."

"Why the hell are you just giving up?"

"I'm not giving up. I… I promise this will all be explained in just a few minutes. Let's just finish our dinner."

"I've lost my goddamn appetite," David cursed, causing another loud sob to burst from Mary Margaret who could count on one hand how many times she'd ever heard her husband curse. He calmly turned around, picked his chair up off the floor and pushed it in, then walked outside.

"Oh, Emma," Mary Margaret sniffed, "please tell us what we can do to change your mind. You just have to get treatment. Not even trying is like giving up hope." Reaching her hand across the table she squeezed Emma's. "Back when Killian... disappeared, I- I don't remember everything. But I remember that whatever happened snapped something inside of me, I broke… but David came to see me everyday, and then you came to see me. And I knew I had to fight. I knew I needed to hope for the best. Believing in the possibility of getting better could be a powerful- holy shit! Daviiiid!" Mary Margaret screeched at the top of her lungs.

Emma listened as her friend started in on one of her hope speeches, when suddenly Mary Margaret paled, cursed, then screamed for her husband, all right before her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted right out of her chair before Emma could do anything.

"Bloody Hell!"

Emma's head whipped around toward Killian's voice, "Thank goodness you're here!"

"Maybe I should come back at a better time?"

"NO! This is the perfect time. The shit has hit the fan, David is ready to haul me to the hospital to receive involuntary treatment, and Mary Margaret is about to preach hope like never before."

"What the hell is going on?" David shouted running in from out back. "What is the scream- Who… I… Wha- Emma, what the fuck? Is this why you're all dressed up?"

Emma couldn't help it, none of this was good, but it wasn't bad either, she giggled. "I told you, you'd know it when you saw it."

"This isn't funny Emma, my wife is passed out, and you've taken to finding a stand in for your dead boyfriend. No offense," David added cordially, looking at the man in black leather.

"None taken, mate," Killian smiled.

"Wow, you really do look just like him, and you got the accent down. Is it real, or did she ask you to talk like that?"

"I assure you, it's real."

"David!" Emma chastised. "I didn't ask him to do any such thing. This is Killian, the real Killian." Emma was now on the floor with Mary Margaret's head cradled in her lap. Her friend was still out cold.

"Enough, Emma. Do you have any idea what this could do to her if she wakes up and this rent-a-Killian is here, do you even remember what happened to her when he disappeared?"

"Of course I remember," Emma snapped. "I remember every painful moment of the last year."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"I'm not _doing_ anything. He's real, David, and I don't care if you believe me. I can explain everything if you'd give me the chance."

"Fine, but I want him out of here for when Mary Margaret wakes up. I don't want this putting her back in the hospital."

"Fine," Emma answered petulantly. Apparently not everyone was going to warm up to this development as quickly as she had. "Can you wait in our room, just for now. Please don't leave though, Killian?"

"As you wish," was all he answered before he vanished from the spot he had been occupying.

Emma rolled her eyes, "He always did have a flair for the dramatic, wouldn't you say?"

David didn't answer. He was frozen in his spot, jaw hanging open, eyes wide as saucers.

"Close your mouth, you look ridiculous."

David snapped his jaw shut then scrubbed both his hands over his face and through his hair. "Just what the everloving fuck is going on, Emma!"

"Keep your voice down! Your wife is going to have a meltdown if you don't get your foul mouth under control."

"She's already having a meltdown! Explain. Now."

Emma stood up and grabbed Mary Margaret below each arm, "A little help?"

David grabbed his wife's ankles and they moved her to the couch. Returning to sit at the table, they stared at each other for a moment before Emma began the whole tale. Everything from her hallucinations that weren't hallucinations, to Scarlet's arrest, to her diagnosis, to her trek into the woods, to the discovery that Killian was their vigilante killer, and finally to what he was and what he could offer her.

"Now if you need more proof that it's really Killian, then you're going to have to talk with him. I'm sure there are things he can say or do that will convince you."

David's jaw was having a hard time staying in the correct position tonight. He felt as though he might need to physically hold it up. Either Emma was completely mad, or the world as he knew it was changed forever. He looked over at his sleeping wife, wondering if she'd be able to handle this development, and was startled to see she was awake with silent tears spilling down her cheeks.

Rushing to her, he knelt down by her side and slid one arm under her back and one under her knees. "Come on, it's late, let's get home."

"No," Mary Margaret whispered. She sat up and looked first at Emma, and then at David. "I want to know. I need to know if it's him."

David sat down next to his wife, and wrapped her hands in his. Looking at Emma with a pleading look in his eyes, he beseeched her one final time. "I want to believe you, Emma. Really, I do. But if this is some kind of hoax, or twisted reality you've created, I'm begging you to stop it now."

"I swear to you both, it's not," Emma vowed, while walking over to take a seat.

"Are you sure, hon?" David asked Mary Margaret who nodded her head vigorously in response. "Bring him out then."

"Okay." But before Emma could even call his name, he reappeared, this time sitting on the loveseat along the opposite wall of the couch, right next to where Emma had sat down.

"Oh!" Mary Margaret yelped, hand clutching her chest.

"Sorry, Snow."

Mary Margaret's sharp inhale morphed into a slightly hysterical laugh. "Oh my gosh! It's him!"

"What?" David and Emma asked in unison.

"Don't get me wrong," Emma started, "I know it's him, but what the hell happened in point five seconds that has you convinced?"

"He called me Snow."

David and Emma shared a confused look.

"It's an inside joke," Mary Margaret said. "When David took me to Cabo for a week, I came back bragging about my tan. Killian laughed at me and said I was still white as snow. He even went so far as to show me that his arms were still tanner than mine and he hadn't even had to leave dreary Maine for it. Ever since then he's called me Snow."

Emma laughed at the simplicity. "Well there you go Sir Skeptical, your wife is a believer. And here I always thought he was making fun of you because you always get so excited when it snows."

Looking at David, it was apparent that he was still a bit unsure.

"Come on, mate. What do I have to do to convince you? Your favorite drink is the daiquiri, even though you rarely order them because you don't want the guys to laugh at you. You have a thing for fairies, Tinkerbell, Crysta, even the fairy godmother in Shrek. You prefer loose fitting boxers to boxer briefs because you don't want _your boys_ to suffocate, oh and you... eh, you like that thing the wifey does… you know with her pinky fing-"

"Alright, that's enough Jones!" David's blush shot from his neck to the tips of his ears.

Mary Margaret burst out laughing, while Emma had a look of distaste on her face, "TMI Killian, but you got him! He's a believer."

David finally let out a chuckle. "Of all the shit you know about me, you chose to start with those?"

"You could've stopped me at anytime, Dave."

"I'm starving," Mary Margaret cut in, "let's eat and you can tell us all about the past year." She sounded so enthusiastic one would think she was talking to a friend who'd left to explore the world.

The four settled at the table and Killian regaled them with his tales from life as a vampire. Although he left no detail out, he did make sure to censor the gorier parts.

"Lately I've been exploring Cartographer's Bluff. Do you remember that portal I told you about Swan? When we took our first camping trip?"

Emma nodded, while Mary Margaret and David looked at him cluelessly.

"I've heard rumors for years that there's a portal to another… realm, a place where a diverse spread of supernatural beings live. It's why the maps we look at show more land than we see when we are hiking. That land does exist, but it was cursed, locked away beyond a portal that isn't visible to the human eye. Supposedly the supernaturals lived in secret among humans for years, but over time people started to suspect something otherworldly about the community in general and so they decided it best to go into hiding to protect themselves."

"Have you found it?" Emma asked.

"I did, it's a very faint field protecting the area, but I can see it. I haven't had the nerve to crossover."

"Why not?" David asked. "Don't you want to see what else is out there?"

"Of course, but I guess a part of me always wished, or hoped that I'd be with Emma again. I don't know if the portal is open to come and go as I please, or if I'd be trapped there forever."

"You'll always have me now." Emma reached out for his hand and squeezed it when he laced their fingers together.

"Ha!" Mary Margaret exclaimed. Placing her hand on top of both of their hands she smirked at Killian. "Guess you can't call me Snow anymore, seeing as I'm waaaay more tan than you now, and I didn't even have to leave dreary Maine to do it." She laughed heartily as she mocked his own words.

"It would seem you are correct, it only took my death to achieve this feat," he deadpanned.

Mary Margaret's laughter immediately ceased, and her eyes turned down sadly.

"Snow, it was a joke. Please forgive me, it's too soon for such flippancy."

"No, it's not that. I just… it made me realize that your solution to Emma's condition is to make her a vampire. Does that mean that you two will leave?" The woman's big green eyes filled with tears again as she contemplated losing her friend.

"We haven't thought that far in advance," Emma said hurriedly, trying to head off a huge discussion before she and Killian had a chance to discuss it themselves. "I promise you both I won't disappear again without telling you where I'm going."

"Emma and I still have a lot to figure out, but you guys will be the first to know outside of us," Killian added.

David and his wife both nodded their heads solemnly, taking their friends at their words. After finishing dinner, cleaning up, and the reiteration of promises, the couple took their leave. They were wise enough to know the couple needed this time to formulate their plans.

As soon as the door shut Emma turned to Killian and launched herself into his waiting arms. "Don't ever fucking do that again!" She hugged him with all her might and relished the feel of his arms wrapping strongly around her.

"Oi! Such language. You kiss me with that mouth?"

"You've never complained before."

"I suppose not. Now what is it I'm not to do again?"

"You are never to disappear or magically poof me away and leave without a word again."

"It was for your safety. I was having a hard time controlling myself with you, always have."

Emma looked up at him with a seriousness in her gaze, but momentarily found herself lost in the bright blue hue of his eyes tonight. "Your eyes are so blue tonight, they were pale yesterday."

"I wasn't properly prepared yesterday. Tonight my thirst is quenched I suppose you could say."

Emma huffed, and broke from his embrace.

"What is it?"

"How? I mean, you didn't drink that much from me last night. I don't want you to… you know. You don't, like… I mean… are there others?"

Killian just stared at her as she continued to stumble over her words. "What is it you're asking, Swan?"

A rosy shade of pink colored her cheeks as she realized she was going to have to come right out and ask. "Are there other girls?"

"Other girls for what?"

Emma rolled her eyes at his obtuseness, silently cursing him for making her a jealous brat. "Do you drink from other females?"

Killian burst into laughter, his eyes alight with love for this girl.

Emma's mouth dropped open, then she spun on her heel and stormed to the bedroom.

"Wait up, love." He got to the door just as it was slamming closed and stopped it with his foot. Emma was laid out on her back, arms folded across her chest, staring at the ceiling.

Laying next to her on the bed, he took it as a good sign that she didn't tell him to leave, or even turn away from him when he slowly crooked his arm across her stomach. "Emma Swan, are you jealous?"

She growled in irritation, but still didn't turn away. "No," she muttered petulantly.

"I think you're jealous," he crooned.

"Well what the hell do you expect, I mean you were hard as a rock last night when you drank from me. You think I want you doing that with someone else?"

"Mmmm I was," he growled, splaying his hand across her stomach, "but you know what darling? I was hard as a rock because it was you."

Emma turned her head, "Yeah?"

He nodded his head. "After I left you here last night, I knew I couldn't see you again without first quenching my thirst. Remember the stockpile I have at the, what did you call it? House of horrors? I drank my fill before seeing you tonight so I could control myself."

Emma giggled at the title and at assuming the worst. How could she so quickly forget the mini blood bank he had back at his place. "Sorry," she whispered sheepishly. Turning her body toward his she scooted further into his embrace.

"Nothing to apologize for. I imagine I'd feel the same if you were to let someone else taste you."

"Well, you don't have anything to worry about, I don't know any other vampires."

"Maybe I wasn't talking about that kind of tasting." Killian arched his eyebrow and licked his lips.

Emma watched as he transformed from man to vampire, his fangs clicking into place in the blink of an eye. Her heart rate soared, but not out of fear. As surreal as this all still was, she was turned on by his fangs, as was proven by the swirl of want she felt between her legs at the thought of him tasting his fill of hers. "Oh, that's only for you."

"Only me? Even after a year?"

"I don't know if I'd have ever moved past you, Killian. I might've become an old spinster. But I assure you, after only one year, yes, only for you." Leaning in, Emma touched her lips to one fang, then the other before taking his mouth.

Killian groaned into her mouth when he tasted her tongue on his. He tightened his hold at her lower back and kneaded her flesh, wanting to feel more of her. "Your soft, wet, mouth tastes just as delectable as I remember."

He'd always loved to kill her with words. She felt that familiar swell low in her belly, and she pressed into him further. "What else do you want to taste?"

"Everything you have to give."

Their eyes mirrored each other's, beautifully colored irises, blue versus green, barely visible around wild pupils. "Take it," she whispered. Before she could take notice, Killian transported, where he had been laid beside her he was now standing next to her side of the bed. Emma took the hand he offered her and stood up with him.

He removed his black leather jacket, then took both Emma's hands and placed them on his chest. She didn't need to be led further, Killian had always enjoyed when Emma undressed him, with her eyes and especially with her hands.

Slowly caressing the planes of his chest, down to his abs and then back up again, Emma pulled the shirt from his jeans at the same time, then set to the task of unbuttoning it. With each new bit of skin that was exposed she felt new want blossoming. Her hands caressed his pecs, fingers skimming through his thick chest hair, then moved up to his shoulders to push away his shirt.

Even though he couldn't blush, she saw a shy modesty bloom under her scrutiny. He still had his tells, she noted as his hand came up to rub at the back of his neck. A sure sign he was a little shaken. "Just as gorgeous as I remember," she murmured. Moving forward, Emma inhaled deeply at his neck then feathered light kisses along the column of his neck as she deftly unfastened his belt. "I missed you so much," she whispered into his skin as she unzipped him.

"I missed you too, my love." Taking her face between both hands he brought her mouth to his to cement his words.

Emma slid his pants down his hips and thighs while he kissed her senseless. She felt his hard length against her stomach and couldn't help the giggle that stole from her mouth.

"What's so funny?"

"No blood, no heartbeat, and now no _knickers_? I seem to remember you had quite the collection of those hot little boxer briefs that packaged everything so… deliciously."

"Perhaps I forewent my knickers for your easy access."

Emma laughed again, "Good idea. Goddamn you look so good. You're just missing one thing."

"And what would that be?" He quirked his eyebrow as she unfastened the necklace, _his_ necklace, she wore.

"I want you to have it back, now that you're here to stay." Emma stepped behind him and fastened the necklace for him. She kissed his neck and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I also want to feel it drag along my body when you're on top of me," she whispered into his ear.

An involuntary shiver coursed through his body at her seduction. Then she was gone, the warmth of her body no longer pressed to his, and he found himself desperate for her touch.

When she walked back around him, she faced away from him, toward the bed, then swept her hair upward with both hands signaling Killian to unzip her. The dress fell to the floor seamlessly, and she whipped back around to face him, without warning she jumped up and clung to his body. He caught her as if she were a feather. "So it's true what they say? Vampires have super strength?"

"Aye, there are many things that are different about me now, Swan. We could discuss them all at great length if you'd like?"

"Uh-uh, not right now. We have more important matters to attend to."

"Such as?"

"Shut up and get inside me, Killian Jones."

"As you wish." He laid Emma out on their bed and crawled between her thighs, then kissed her lips once, before setting to leisurely teasing every inch of her body. He ran his lips down her neck before feasting on her breasts like a man starved, all the while inhaling deeply, her scent like a lifeline.

Just as she'd wanted, Emma could feel the delicate drag of the pendants on his necklace along her throat, then down her sternum as he kissed his way down her body. "Hurry up," she whined. "It's been a year," she added when he chuckled at her impatience.

"Don't I know it," he murmured. "Let me enjoy these a bit more." He sucked and teased his fill before moving further down her body, finally settling where she wanted. Killian massaged her hips, up and down her rib cage, then placed his mouth upon her.

The moan that emerged from Emma would have embarrassed her if she wasn't busy being so impatient and greedy for his mouth. She fisted her fingers into his thick hair, encouraging his actions.

Killian hummed his approval into her folds when her delectable taste graced his tongue. He worked her quickly, but expertly, his tongue seeking everything she had to give. He brought two fingers to her entrance, soaked and ready to be penetrated and slid them in without warning at the same time as he sucked her clit between his lips.

"Yes," Emma gasped at the sudden but welcome intrusion. It'd been far too long, and she was on the brink of utopia from just one thrust of his digits. She bucked her hips to meet the curve of his fingers, the wet slide music to her ears. The sound of sex had always been a turn on for Emma, and after a full year, it was as though the sense was heightened.

Killian added a third finger to her divinely swollen flesh and delighted in her cries of passion as she immediately came. "That's it love, let me hear you." He coaxed her through her aftershocks, waiting patiently for her to come down. "Hearing you get off is second only to watching it, Swan."

"Then allow me to come again… for your pleasure." She smiled like the cat that got the canary, before adding, "Tell me how you want to watch me come."

Before Emma could process a thing she was straddling his waist while he lied out on the bed. "What the-"

"Super speed," he shrugged throwing his hands behind his head.

"So that's true too. What about super stamina?"

"Oi! My stamina was always super."

Emma collapsed onto his chest in a fit of giggles. Her vampire boyfriend was still a drama queen. "Oh, Killian. That wasn't a complaint." She braced her hands on either side of his head and pushed up so she could look down at him. "I never had any complaints in that department," she purred as she slid her still wet folds up and down his length. Emma watched as his eyes rolled shut. "You like that?"

"Fuck yes, you're so warm and wet. I want to feel you wrapped around my cock, love."

She kissed him briefly then licked and gently bit her way along his jawline. "As you wish," she murmured into his ear.

Killian's eyes sprang open as he didn't want to miss a moment, she just felt so good. He watched as she braced her left hand on his chest and gripped his shaft in her right to line him up to her. His cock strained as he felt the warmth of her entrance, and he swore she was teasing him. "Ride me, Swan."

Hearing those words brought back a flood of memories, so many nights spent making love. Torn between slamming home and making him beg, Emma slowly sunk down onto him until he was fully sheathed. She didn't move, she needed to adjust to the way he stretched her, she also wanted to savor the full feeling she'd been deprived of for so long.

Killian didn't realize he'd closed his eyes again until he felt her forehead rest on his. He brought one hand to her hip and the other to the back of her head. "I love you, Emma." He punctuated his words with a fervent kiss, hardly giving her a chance to answer.

His words and ardor spurred her to action and she withdrew her hips before gliding back home again. Emma alternated between kissing him and watching him. The muscles of his body moved smoothly under his skin as he guided her hips. She got lost in the way his arms flexed, his stomach tensed and settled, the tick of his jaw, and she thought watching him in the throes of passion might be the most gorgeous thing she'd ever witnessed.

Killian moaned and whispered encouragement and obscene words to her as she worked herself closer to another peak. He was mesmerized by the way her breasts bounced as she rode him, but only when he could pull his eyes from her expressions of heat, happiness, and wonder that all made their way across her face. He knew the moment she reached that crescendo, when she threw her head back in ecstacy and called out his name. And again, hearing her come undone was second only to watching. Pumping into her still, Killian's orgasm started to crest through him and he was inundated with a maddening desire to bite and feed from the woman who'd just thoroughly ravished him.

Emma watched as Killian's release took him. He was beautiful, but something was just slightly off. His eyes paled a shade, and he looked slightly feral. Then it dawned on her. "Drink," she commanded. And once again she found herself in a new position without experiencing how she got there. She was laid out on her back and Killian was poised above her now, still thrusting deeply into her. She didn't say anything, but only swept her hair aside and offered her neck.

Without another moment's hesitation Killian sunk his fangs into her tender flesh and pulled deeply from her thrumming vein. Her breathy moans had him fucking into her harder, as he realized she loved his bite. The swell of her walls against his cock had him seeing stars until he finally let go and let the pleasure take him on a ride.

The moment her skin was pierced Emma entered a state of euphoria. She felt pleasure course throughout her body, settling in every nerve ending. The way his fingers grazed her skin was perfect, the way his chest rubbed against hers was perfect, and the way he stroked against her clit with every thrust was perfect. Her whole body tensed as she sensed Killian's orgasm, and then a wave of pleasure like none she'd experienced before swept her up with him, and her body relaxed as gentle wave after wave washed through her.

Not for lack of want, Killian withdrew his fangs from her neck. "That was…"

"What ha-"

They both chuckled at the utter fuckstruck tone to their voices, and Emma collapsed against Killian's chest.

Running his hands through her hair he enjoyed the warm press of her skin against his cool body. "You are so warm. I've missed you so much, my love. Tell me you'll stay with me forever?"

If he had a beating heart it would have stopped at her hesitance to answer. Taking in a deep breath he didn't technically need, he tried to find his center again. "I understand. I didn't mean to pressure you, please know that I will accept any decision you make." He kissed the top of her head, then rolled them so they could get comfortable.

There was something off with the way her body rolled so listlessly as he moved them. "Emma, are you quite alright?" Brushing her hair away from her forehead he saw that her eyes were open, but glazed as if she wasn't seeing. "Emma, love, wake up," he shouted as he shook her gently. Killian checked for her pulse, but even with his heightened senses could only detect a weak and fading pulse. He couldn't comprehend the thought of losing her after he'd only just got her back. But he couldn't fathom turning her without her permission either. "Please, wake up. Tell me what to do," he pleaded. Holding her limp body tightly to his, he prayed to any god who might hear him for Emma to wake.

"Emma!" Killian was sitting up in bed holding her tightly with his forehead rested on hers. She was still breathing but it was shallow. He pressed his lips to hers and a broken sob spilled forth. Emma's whole body jerked in his arms as she struggled to inhale.

"Breathe love, just breathe," he soothed her.

"What happened?"

Killian still had her held tight in his arms, unwilling to let her go. "You tried to leave me, you were barely breathing, and your pulse was almost nonexistent."

"Why are you bleeding?" Emma brought her hand to his face and brushed her thumb across the drops of blood on his cheek.

"Shit, sorry. Will you be okay If I go to the bathroom to clean up?"

Emma nodded her head. "I'm fine. But why are you bleeding, did I hurt you?"

"Of course you didn't." Killian stood up from the bed and raked his hand anxiously behind his ear.

"There's that blushless blush," Emma teased as she watched him. "What is it, bashful?"

"I thought I was going to lose you," he whispered. "Crying is a messy affair when you're a vampire."

"I'm not going anywhere, all you would have to do if I was dying in your arms is turn me, then there'll be no getting rid of me." Emma stood up off the bed and held her hand out to him, "Let's get cleaned up. If that's what comes out of your eyes when you cry, I'm sure I need to bathe after what we just did. Unless you're ready for round two."

"I'm always ready for you, but we need to talk first."

"Fine," Emma sighed, knowing that serious Killian with his good form, morals, and integrity was going to make an appearance.

~CS~

"Are you hungry?" Killian asked as he dried his body.

Emma watched his naked form as he toweled off, her eyes were quite focused as she enjoyed the show. "Only for you," she murmured as she slipped on her silky robe.

"On the contrary, I can hear your stomach," he chuckled.

"Stupid vampire hearing," she muttered while drying her own hair. "I can eat anytime, I'd rather make up for the last year by having you again. I haven't gotten to... you know." Licking her lips she crudely gestured a blow job, then smiled devilishly as he began to harden before her.

"Naughty vixen," he smirked, "I promise you, once we've talked, if we move forward together-"

"What _if_ , Killian?" she interrupted. "There is no _if_ , only when."

"Well then, after we talk, _when_ we move forward together, you'll have an eternity to suck my cock." He waggled his eyebrows at her scandalized expression, while throwing on a pair of his old worn sweats.

Emma feigned offense before bursting into giggles. "I love you, you filthy animal."

"Come on."

Before she could make another attempt to lure him back to bed, he poofed them to the kitchen where she was sitting on the counter watching him practically warp around the kitchen while preparing her pancakes, eggs, and sausage. She was almost dizzy.

Once he'd prepared her plate he swooped her up and transported them both, food and all to the back patio. "Now we talk." He sat her in a chair at the small dinette and sat across from her.

"Talk, talk, talk," Emma rolled her eyes before scooping a bite of pancakes into her mouth. "Mmmm, just as delicious as I remember," she commented through a full mouth.

"So classy." He watched as carefree Emma returned. She'd been such a shell of herself over the past year.

"Shut up!" she laughed, punching him in the arm. "Actually don't shut up, you talk all this talk you need to talk, and I'll eat."

"As you wish. All the things I am about to say aren't to discourage you, but I do need to say them, because I want you to really think it through before you make your decision."

"Okay, I'm all ears."

"No more food to start, you won't be able to enjoy those light and fluffy pancakes, nor your beloved garlic steak. No sunlight... tanning, the pool, the beach, all gone. A warm body will be a thing of the past, and no more beauty sleep, not that you ever needed it. You won't be able to be around humans for a long spell, it'll just be you and me."

Emma reached across the table and entwined her fingers with his. "I don't see the problem with any of that. I would give up food, sleep, my warmth, my heartbeat, the sun, moon, and stars to be with you."

"Fortunately you wouldn't have to give up the stars, Swan." Killian squeezed her hand lovingly as he gestured toward the star laden sky with his other. "We can always enjoy this. Alas, those are the more superficial things. We would never be able to stay anywhere forever if we intended to live among the living, they'd realize we were different if we maintained our youthful good looks for too long. You'd have to watch every human you love die, eventually. And… no babies."

Emma contemplated his last two thoughts as she pushed around the bits of food left on her plate. For the majority of her life she hadn't wanted kids, she'd never had a mom and was quite sure that she didn't know the first thing about how to be one. Only once Killian had come into her life had she even considered kids, they'd discussed it a time or two. Ultimately, had everything worked out happily ever after, they probably would've had a couple kids. But now, the fact was, she wasn't going to have kids either way, she probably didn't have nine months left to try, and she could handle that.

"David and Mary Margaret," she murmured, they were a different story. Her eyes watered as she thought about them growing old and eventually dying as she and Killian would remain never changing.

"I can… enthrall them, I suppose you could say."

Emma stared at him blankly.

"You know, enchant, glamour, hypnotize them."

"To do what?"

"To forget. Everything about us, it would be as if we'd never existed in their minds." Killian watched silently as an array of emotions flitted across her face, a bit of sadness, some nostalgia, and even the hint of a smile.

"No, I can handle it. I don't want you to… mess with their minds. Wait! Have you messed with my-"

"Never love," Killian cut her off, "I wouldn't dream of it."

Emma stood up and tugged on Killian's hand. "C'mon." She led him to their swinging loveseat. After guiding him to sit criss cross she sat opposite him so they were facing each other. Grabbing both his cool hands in her warm ones she laced their fingers again placing them in her lap, and looked into his eyes.

"I know you may think I am being quick to jump, and flippant, but Killian, I know in my heart that I'm making the right decision. Some might think me weak for not moving past your death, but the fact is, I could have moved on, I just didn't want to. I had no desire to live in a world without you in it. You were, are the greatest and only love of my life, I had no desire to move past that. I would have lived out my life however I was able to navigate without you, but now I don't have to, and nothing you can say or do will change my mind."

"Gods I am blessed, if a demon like me can be blessed."

"You are not a demon," Emma whispered, wiping at the bloody tear that traced the curve of his cheek.

"Knowing all that you know now, I don't understand how you can still love me so unconditionally, but I swear you won't regret it for even a single moment of our eternity."

"Good."

Pulling Emma into his lap he threaded both hands into her hair and pressed his forehead to hers. "I love you, Emma Swan."

"Prove it. Take me back to bed."

"One track mind," he chuckled.

"Better yet, who needs a bed. Take me right here, vampire."

"You're amazing, Emma."

"I love you, Killian Jones, enough talking now."


	4. Chapter 4

"Vampire?" David shook his head as he closed the car door behind him. "It's actually kind of cool."

A serene smile crept over Mary Margaret's lips, despite the fact that she might be losing her best friends. "You're cool too," she giggled at her husband's obvious envy.

Chuckling at her attempt to patronize him, he reached a hand out to cup her face, and tried to comfort her. "Don't worry, we will figure something out. You won't lose her too."

Mary Margaret leaned her head against his palm, "Thank you for always knowing what to say."

"You're welcome, dear wife," he answered with a bright smile, then leaned in and kissed her softly.

"You're very charming," she murmured into his lips.

"David will do," he jested, then started up the truck. "Let's get you home, it's been an interesting evening."

"I'm okay," his wife told him as they pulled away. "I actually feel more like myself than I have since his disappearance. Like the part of me that broke that day, it isn't just a void anymore. It's… well it's hard to explain. I feel whole again."

"Are you telling me Killian Jones makes you feel whole? We might have a serious issue here… Snow." David was teasing her, of course, by using Killian's nickname for her, he didn't have a jealous bone in his body. There was one thing he was certain of, he wasn't sure where the certainty came from, but he knew he and Mary Margaret were born to be, meant to be, and destined to be together.

Backhanding her husband's arm, Mary Margaret laughed loudly. "In a strange way his presence just made me feel like I was more back to my old self than I have been… for a very long time. But no, Killian doesn't make me feel whole, only you and your love fill this heart."

"The feeling is mutual, dar-"

"Stop! Stop the car, David. Pull over."

David screeched to a halt. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, sorry. Nothing, I just. I've been wanting to go to the library since, well I can't remember. Every time I pass it I want to stop, I just haven't made the time."

"Is there a new must read book series out? One of your bawdy supernatural romance novels just hit the shelves?"

"Oh please, Mr. I heart fairies, I'm not the only one who likes other worldly beings. Here I thought you just wanted to be the boy who never grew up, now I know the real reason you like for me to dress up as Tinkerbell for Halloween."

David ducked his head, "Dammit, Jones," he muttered.

The couple exited their car and headed inside the deserted library.

"Are you sure it's even open?" David asked. "Hours of operations state it's closed already."

"It must be open," Mary Margaret said as she easily swung the door open.

"And what are we here for again?"

"I don't know, I've just been wanting to stop by," she mumbled. She felt drawn to the space, unsure why. Scanning row after row of books, she was certain she would find the answer.

"I knew you would return, I didn't know when, but I knew one day you'd be back."

Mary Margaret jumped at the voice behind her. Turning around she assessed the petite, brunette woman before her. She looked vaguely familiar, like a memory that was locked away, just beyond her cognizance. "How do you know me? And why am I suddenly drawn here?"

"Call it a failsafe. I had to make a backdoor in the spell in case you had a change of heart."

"What the hell are you talking about?" David demanded as he wrapped a protective arm around his wife's shoulders.

"And who are you?" Mary Margaret added, "You better start giving us some answers or we're leaving."

"No you won't. You sought me out. You're at the public library which has been closed for two hours, you have no idea why, and a burning need to understand."

"Alright, that's it, let's go Mary Margaret, this place gives me the creeps."

"David, she's right. I have to know. Ever since seeing Killian it's like an internal compass is driving me."

The young woman looked between the couple as they shared an understanding. When it seemed as though they'd decided to stay, she spoke. "You'll never believe me if I just tell you. I'll have to show you, are you ready?"

The last time David had heard those words, his dead friend had shown up as a vampire, was he ready for this? Mary Margaret nodded her head once in acknowledgement. Then in a flash so blinding the couple had to squeeze their eyes shut momentarily, the librarian morphed before them.

Her tight bun was replaced by free flowing tendrils of dark auburn hair, her once simple blue dress now shined and flowed as though levitating. In fact as David and Mary Margaret continued to stare they realized she herself was levitating, and had… "Wings? Well now I've seen it all," David muttered.

The floating woman chanted an incantation lowly, then reaching into a satchel around her neck she produced a powdery substance that she blew along a wave of wind that engulfed David and Mary Margaret.

"Snow?"

"Charming?"

"Ahhh yes, you're Snow White, you're Prince Charming, I'm Belle, the librarian. Now, follow me. Let's get your memories."

"Belle!" Snow cried out. "It's so good to see you. But… what happened. I mean-"

"Too much to explain dearest, let me get you all you need."

Belle led them through the dusty aisles of the library, finally arriving at the fairy tales section. She pulled out a brown tome with gold lettering and handed it to Snow.

" _Once Upon a Time_ ," she read as she ran a hand over the vaguely familiar book.

"Inside this book you will find all the answers you need. You came to me, that tells me something is amiss or someone needs your help. So the sooner you read the book the faster you'll be able to proceed with whatever led you toward finding home. I'll leave you to it." In another blinding light the fairy was gone and replaced by an elderly woman neither had ever seen before.

"How can I help you" the little old lady asked sweetly. She looked around as if confused to how she'd gotten to this part of the library.

"Oh, we found what we're looking for," David said. The couple watched as the librarian made her way back to her desk before speaking.

"Home, David… I mean Char-"

"David is probably best, at least while we are here," Charming chucked. He couldn't very well go by Charming in this land.

"Right," Snow answered.

David surged forward to kiss his wife. "How is it possible to miss you when I've had you the whole time?" he asked between kisses.

"I don't know," Snow answered, desperate to connect in a more primal nature. "Take me home."

"Shit," David cursed.

"David, that mouth tonight! So much- holy shit!" Snow dropped the book that had been secured at her side and clapped a hand over her mouth the moment the words were spoken.

"Ha! See, hard to control isn't it," David taunted.

Bits and pieces were starting to come back to her now. "You're beautiful," she told her husband who had literally sprouted wings. "Did that happen because… you know," she waved a finger between the two of them with a smirk on her lips.

"Yeah, well now that I have wings, Jones is going to find out I'm a fairy, he'll never let me hear the end of it. Let's have Belle make us forget again."

Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Hey, I was just kidding. It was supposed to be funny. I never want to forget again," David apologized.

"It's not that, David. Emma and Killian… they're, well he is and she will be vampire. We can never see them again."

David pulled his wife into his arms. "I don't believe that. We will figure this out." He picked up the book in one hand and grasped Snow's hand in his other. "Let's get home."

~CS~

Emma woke as the sun peeked through the trees, it was unbelievably bright again after a night spent with her vampire. She went inside and crawled into bed, throwing the blankets over her head. Delighting in the satiation that vibrated in her body Emma dozed off to sleep once more. _May as well enjoy it while I can_ , she thought.

Just like the day before, Emma was woken by loud pounding on her door, and just as she had the day before she stomped in annoyance to answer it. Throwing open the door she was greeted by David and Mary Margaret.

"Hey guys, you come to make sure I didn't disappear again?" She left the door open for them to come in and went to the kitchen for coffee.

Emma turned around to see the couple still standing in her doorway. "Jeez, it was a joke. I told you I wouldn't just up and leave again." When she still got no response other than the scrutinizing gazes of her two friends she huffed with impatience. "You guys are being weird. If you're here to try to get me to change my mind you can just forget it. I am going to be with Killian forever, I will be a vampire." She plopped into her couch getting comfortable for whatever lecture might come.

The sighs of relief the couple let out made it seem as though they'd been holding their breath for days.

"We weren't sure if you'd turned already," David said. "Sit down."

"I am sitting, Nolan, what gives?"

"Right, sorry." He rubbed his hands together nervously before setting them upon hips as was customary when he was about to dole out some harsh truths or make a plan.

Man, Emma hoped it was the latter.

"In the words of the librarian, you'll never believe me if I just tell you. I'll have to show you, are you ready?"

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but sure, I'm ready."

The couple joined hands, closed their eyes, and then transformed.

Emma jumped up on the couch as if she'd seen a mouse scamper across the floor. "What the everloving fuck is going on?"

She watched in rapt fascination as their ears elongated into points and a stray thought crossed her chaotic mind, was Killian part fairy, is that why he had cute little pointy ears. David and Mary Margaret were devastatingly gorgeous. Light, airy, glowing almost, their skin angelic looking, eyes bright.

Stepping off the couch, she paced her living room floor. Emma tried to make sense of everything. Was everyone in her life some sort of special being, or had she really created a world all her own. The odds weren't in her favor.

"Emma?" Snow said softly.

"Nope. Not ready. Still processing."

"Oh, come on!" David sputtered, "Jones is a vampire and you're freaking out about us?"

"He has pointy teeth, you're fucking floating in the air… you have... wings! What else exists? How can everything be so vastly fucked. I mean what is going on with my life."

"Well, that's why we're here," Snow started, "we want to explain some things that might help you and Killian."

"Killian's not here right now, he's kind of nocturnal these days."

"That's why we are here now. I don't know how much you know about the supernatural-"

"Uh, nothing, except what I've learned in the last 48 hours."

"Let's just have a crash course then. Fairies, vampires, werewolves, mermaids, witches, warlocks, selkies, sidhe, ghosts, demons, angels, dragons, elves, imps, and the list goes on, they all exist. Just like vampires and werewolves are arch enemies, vampires and fairies are not too fond of each other either."

"More like we are their favorite prey, which kind of puts a damper on interspecies mingling," David added to his wife's vague depiction of the vampire fairy relationship.

"Anyhow," Snow continued, "there is a town where they all coexist, it is through the portal Killian talked about-"

"Wait, how do you suddenly know so much about all this?"

"Well, that part was coming up. We are obviously fairies, don't laugh," David demanded narrowing his eyes.

Emma couldn't help but crack a little smile, Killian was never going to let David here the end of this. "So how do you know about the portal, and why did you wait to say anything."

Snow held up the book. "All of the answers are in here, we only found out last night after leaving here. It's not a short answer, but the condensed version is, after leaving here I was drawn to the library like a magnet, a fairy blew some fairy dust on us and restored our memories, and gave us this book."

A hysterical laugh burst forth from Emma. "What?"

Snow continued on, unperturbed. "Listen, Emma. David and I are from the town that lies inside that portal. We left several years ago after my stepmother attempted to kill me. My real name is Snow White and this is Prince Charming."

"Okay, I get it. You guys don't believe me about Killian, you think it's some kind of hoax, now you're trying to make me realize how ridiculous I'm being." Emma walked over to her door and opened it then gestured with her hand for them to leave. "You are welcome back when you believe me."

Both David and Mary Margaret plopped down on her couch, making it clear they were not budging. "Wait," David started, "you believe Killian is a vampire, but you don't believe we are fairies? If we'd said werewolves would you have believed us?"

"It has nothing to do with the type of supernatural, you oversold it with the fucking fairytale bullshit. Although the levitation trick was cool. You'll have to fill me in when we are on speaking terms again."

Snow's jaw hit the floor, "Emma Swan, I will have you know I am Princess Snow White of Misthaven. David is my Prince Charming, and I don't care what you say. We are not leaving here until you believe us."

Before Emma could say another word Snow disappeared before her eyes. "Oh, shit," Emma screeched as she realized Mary Margaret hadn't disappeared, but had transformed to the size of a bee and was now dive bombing her face. She swatted her hands in the air trying to get the bug like being away from her.

"Hey! Careful! You'll hurt her!" David shouted.

No sooner were the words out of David's mouth than Emma's hand connected with the tiny fairy.

Mary Margaret dropped to the floor and immediately transformed back to her human size. She hugged her middle, trying to catch her breath. "Do you believe me now?" she gasped.

David was by her side in a moment comforting his wife. He helped her to a sitting position, then conjured a glass of water for her.

Emma trudged over to her couch and dramatically flopped onto it. "You're telekinetic too, wow."

"It's called magic, Emma," David said.

"Whatever, you say magic, I say telekinesis."

"Why is it so hard for you to believe when it comes to us?" he asked.

"I don't know. I guess part of me still doubted everything that's going on. I mean I was convinced for a long time that I had made an alternate universe in my head where Killian existed. Apparently it's all real."

"That's the spirit," Mary Margaret singsonged. "The quicker we get you on board, the quicker we can all leave for Storybrooke." She hopped up off the floor and went to the table to grab the book.

"Wait, what? You guys are leaving everything behind?"

"We don't have to. The portal is open to come and go as we please so long as we follow proper procedures."

"Proper procedures?" Emma questioned.

"No human killing, no bringing humans to Storybrooke, keep the supernatural world a super secret society, you know, all pretty simple stuff," Snow beamed.

"Simple to those who know them. It might take me a minute. And in case you forgot, I am human. Why am I going there?"

"According to you, you will be vampire, and therefore you will be welcome in Storybrooke," David answered, getting up from the floor and making his way to his wife's side

"And according to you, you will be my favorite prey."

"That's why we needed to make sure you hadn't been changed yet. You have to talk to Killian before we see him again. Now that our true nature is revealed, our scent will be unmasked to him. It will take superhuman restraint for him to not do what's in his nature."

"Jesus, David, he can barely control himself around me, and I'm just a human."

"I for one do not want to know about all that, thank you," David scolded. "I think he can do it, but you will have to warn him first so that he is sustained before we meet. Over time, you will both easily be able to suppress your preternatural urges where we are concerned."

"And why are we suddenly in a rush to family style roadtrip it to Stonybrook?"

"Storybrooke," Mary Margaret corrected. "Stonybrook is from the Babysitters Club books that you told me you read as a little girl."

"Whatever, what's the rush?"

"Well, David and I were talking last night, and we realize now fleeing was the worst thing to do. When Rumple gave us the option to leave permanently he assured us we would remain together, he didn't tell us we would be living with false memories."

Emma narrowed her eyes. "As in Rumplestiltskin?"

"That's the one."

"Is he as maniacal in your world as he is in our fiction?"

"Worse," the couple replied in unison.

"Anyhow, that's beside the point. Seeing Killian must have jogged something deep in my memories, and that led me to the library to uncover the truth of who we are. I'm ready to go home, to be among my people, _our_ kind. And we need to save Storybrooke from the Evil Queen, my stepmother, Regina."

"We?"

"It is fabled that a vampire and his true love, whom he turned to save her life, would be the ultimate demise of Regina. That has to be you and Killian," Mary Margaret explained with a voice full of hope. "Here, it's all in this book." She handed the large book to Emma.

"Hmmm, a story book from Storybrooke. Okay, say for one minute this is true-"

"It is true," they shouted together.

"Hey, you guys need to cut that in love, same thoughts shit out. Say for one minute Killian and I are this couple, how the hell are we supposed to bring down this wicked witch?"

"Oh, she's not the wicked witch, that's my step aunt. Long story, that."

Emma facepalmed. "Is there any literary character or monster that is not real?"

"Uh… no, none that come to mind," Mary Margaret replied sheepishly.

Emma let out a long suffering sigh before she heaved herself up off the couch. "Alright, I have a lot to do today. I'm going to the station to put in my resignation, I need to read this book, then I need to talk a vampire into not sucking you two dry."

Mary Margaret clasped her hands together in excitement. "Thank you, Emma!"

"Don't thank me yet. There's no promises he'll agree."

"You have that man wrapped so tightly around your little finger, he'd walk in the sunlight for you."

Emma smirked at David knowing he wasn't too far off base. But for as wrapped as he was, it was the same for her. She'd do anything for Killian. "Come back tomorrow morning. I will have an answer and a plan."

~CS~

"Where the hell is that goddamn vampire when I need him?"

"You called?"

Emma jumped a mile at his sudden appearance. "You are going to give me a heart attack!"

"Nothing we can't fix with a small bite," he chuckled. "So what has you cursing me, love? What has you _needing_ me?"

"You heard that, huh?" She continued when Killian nodded,m affirming he had indeed heard her. "Well we have a lot to discuss tonight."

"Wait… you want to talk? You're wearing nothing more than a skimpy tank top and what barely passes for shorts… and you want to talk? You're not even wearing a bra! What happened to, _take me to bed, Killian, fuck my brains out, Killian_?" he mocked in his best Emma impersonation.

"I did not say that!" she shouted, shoving him in the chest.

Killian grabbed his chest as if she'd injured him. "You did so, you little libertine."

Emma laughed loudly, "I did not, and you know it. And yes, we have more to talk about tonight."

"Are you hungry? Shall I cook for you while you tell me the news?"

"What's on the menu?"

"It depends on what you've got," he answered while opening the door to her fridge. After a short assessment he went to the pantry and pulled out a few things. "Italian it is."

Emma's stomach growled audibly at the mention of italian food.

Chuckling he asked, "Is what you needed to communicate to me."

Emma blushed at her _humanness_ as she considered that soon enough this would not happen anymore. She couldn't count the number of times he'd made fun of her growling stomach in the past.

"Sounds delicious."

"So tell me love, what's on your mind?"

"Well first off, I resigned today."

"Yeah? How'd they take it at the station. Did Dave help you out?"

"Well, he sort of, um… David resigned as well."

"What? Why the hell would he do that? He's got at least another fifteen in him, the boy loves the law like no other. What does his wife have to say about all this?"

"Mary Margaret did too."

"Alright, just what the bloody hell is going on?"

"Well, maybe you should take a look at this before I go too much further." She ran her hand over the cover of the tome that had been sitting at the table with her.

"That's quite a fancy book there, but what does it have to do wi-"

"Just read it, Jones. It won't take long, I read it in less than a night. If your vampire speed carries over to reading you'll be done in a flash."

"Aye, it does," he affirmed stepping over to the table. "Do you mind watching the sauce?"

Emma stood up and walked to the stove to take over. She listened as he made noises while reading. Little scoffs, sharp intakes of breath, interested hums, an occasional aha, and even a few confused huhs. As she suspected he was done in minutes rather than the several hours it took her.

Walking up behind her, he slipped his arms around her waist. "Emma, this is fantastic news. This means we can live freely among others like us and we can still come back to see Dave and Mary Margaret whenever we want."

"What if I told you we don't have to come back and see them?"

"That seems a little cold, they've been our best friends for quite awhile."

"We don't have to come see them because they are going to come with us." Emma turned in his arms to gauge his reaction.

"They're human, love. You read the book, they are not welcome there. I mean it's a wonderful idea, but I hope they didn't resign based on that."

"That's the part we actually need to discuss." Emma left the warmth of his embrace to grab herself a plate, then dished up a plate of pasta. Taking it over the table she and Killian sat down. "I will be so happy when you don't just have to sit and watch me eat, so weird."

"Watching you eat can be a thing of wonder, especially when you make those erotic noises."

She blushed deeply, but covered her embarrassment by taking a bite and making the exact noise he was referring to. "Mmmmm, so good, Killian."

"Tease."

She giggled for a moment before sobering up to tell him all about Mary Margaret, David, Snow White, Prince Charming, the Evil Queen, and the whole sordid tale. She told him how the two of them were fabled to be the ones to end the Evil Queen, she told him about the existence of all things supernatural and how certain species didn't get along so well, and last but not least, she didn't hold back in telling him just how much he would want to eat their fairy friends alive.

Killian brushed his hand along his chin as he contemplated all that she'd said. He'd listened silently in rapt attention, just taking it all in. "So, you're telling me… Dave's a fucking fairy!" The bellow that followed shook the house.

"Oh my God, I should have known that's what you would focus on." Emma backhanded him on the arm, he was having as much fun as she knew he would with this information. "This is serious. We need to make a plan, the quicker the better. They're ready to get back. I'm ready to quit feeling like shit."

"You're in pain?"

"A little." She cleared her plate from the table and took it to the sink to wash.

"If you're admitting to a little, that means it's excruciating. Why, Emma? Didn't the doctors give you anything?"

She nodded her head sheepishly.

"And why aren't you taking it? Come. Let's get you feeling better." Killian led her from the sink over to the couch. "Where is your medication?"

"I don't want it. I…"

Killian waited for her to continue, when she didn't he sat down next to her and rubbed her knee, silently encouraging her to tell him what was going on. He wrapped his other arm around her shoulders comfortingly. It brought a smile to his face when she threaded her fingers through his where they rested on her shoulder and laid her head in the crook of his neck.

"I want my blood to be pure for you. Not... medicated."

"I assure you there is no need to abstain from taking something that will help you feel better."

"I don't recall abstaining, I'm pretty sure I took exactly what made me feel better last night. You can give it to me again too, if you want," she purred.

"Oh, I always want to give it to you, love. But you really should take something if you're in pain."

"No, those pills taste horrible, then I'll taste bitter or sour to you."

Pulling her into his lap he nuzzled his nose to hers before laying a gentle peck to her lips. "Nonsense, Swan."

"I'm not taking it, Killian."

He held his hands up in supplication, "Understood, I concede."

She whispered a thank you before kissing him back.

"So, now that I am apparently going to want to devour the Nolans, how do we want to brainstorm this plan? And how soon are we slated to leave?"

"Well, I took care of everything today, with David's help. He put me in touch with a fixer of sorts, someone who deals with our sort of supernatural situation. They'll put our place on the market and tie up any loose ends that might raise flags after we're gone. I figured we would keep your house of horrors in case we come back to visit. I am resigned, and everyone thinks I'm moving to some remote city to live out the rest of my days, which I kind of am. Anyone who really matters to me is coming with, so my loose ends are tied up. I'm ready tonight."

"Tonight? I don't think I'm ready, I mean, I've researched how to do it. But I've never done it. We can't rush this, I only get one shot at turning you."

Emma smiled at her rambling vampire boyfriend. She'd never seen him so unsure of himself. "Relax babe. You could do this in your… well you don't really sleep, but, you've got this. If you've studied this half as much as you do everything you're interested in, I'm sure it will work."

"Your words of confidence feed my ego, but allow me to be a bit more skeptical. We're talking about your life, Emma.

"Does it help if I remind you that the cancer will kill me no matter what. So you can give me immortality, or if you screw up, I suffer the same fate anyway, death."

"No, it doesn't help. Not in the slightest!" He moved Emma off of his lap and stood up to pace.

"Sorry, I don't mean to make jokes." Emma stood up and went to him, stilling his pacing; she put both hands on his cheeks and looked into his eyes, willing him to hear her words. "But Killian, there is no time like the present. I don't know how or why, but I just know it's going to work."

"Okay," he whispered, leaning his forehead to hers. She always did have a way of getting him to see things her way.

"Yeah?" Emma asked with excitement coloring her tone.

"Anything for you, my love."

Emma captured his mouth in a fiery kiss. Carding her fingers into his hair, she lead him back to the couch, pushing him down when they reached it. She swiftly straddled his lap, then released his mouth so she could look at him. "Fuck my brains out, Killian."

He had her on her back in a flash. "So demanding." He dipped back in to kiss her, pushed his tongue into her mouth and savored the soft slide as they tasted each other. Wasting no time he palmed her breast over her shirt, anxious to caress her to a stiff peak.

Emma moaned out his name when he deftly rolled a nipple between his thumb and middle finger. And although his touch was not ice cold, the coolness of his digits were a sharp contrast to her heated flesh, even through the fabric of her tank top. She bucked her hips into his, needing a little friction to quell the ache that was building in her core.

"Mmmm, need a little something more?" he teased while rolling his hips into the cradle of her thighs.

"Just like that," she pleaded.

"Are you going to come in your panties?" he whispered against her mouth.

"Not if you're gonna be a jerk about it."

Killian chuckled at her indignation, "Oh, I think you will." He thrusted against her clothed core again and again, picking up speed. He moved his hand to her other breast and lavished the same attention to it. "I think I'll make you come in your panties, just because I can." He squeezed her pebbled peak just a bit harder, and bit down on her lip as he rutted against her, grinding against her clit harmoniously.

A long low moan spilled from her mouth as she tried to keep herself from giving him the pleasure, but she couldn't help it, she came against her will. "Fuck you," she panted.

"Yes, you'll get to do that too," he murmured.

"It's not like you haven't done the same thing before."

"I most certainly have not, I don't wear panties."

Emma laughed heartily. "Whatever, you know what I mean."

"Aye, I do. Our first stakeout together, we couldn't take the chance of getting caught with our pants down." Killian sat back between her sprawled legs so he wouldn't crush her with his weight.

They chuckled together at the memory. It had been one of the headiest experiences either had ever had as Emma rode them both to completion, fully clothed in the front seat of their undercover cruiser.

The shrill sound of Emma's cell phone broke them from the memory and Emma sat up. "It's Mary Margaret, I guess there's no time like the present, right?"

"Right."

"Hello?"

"Hey Emma, do you have a minute?"

"Sure, I needed to talk with you anyhow." She put the phone in speaker mode, so Killian could listen and speak as well.

"Me first," Mary Margaret insisted. "I have some great news. I just remembered something else, sorry, some of my memories are slow coming back, but, when we get to Storybrooke there are actually cloaking spells and masking potions that can keep David and I from being so… appealing to you and Killian. See, everything is going to work out."

"That is great news. And that makes this part much easier. We probably shouldn't see each other until after we are all through the portal. Killian and I have decided to do it tonight. The quicker the better right?" Emma looked at Killian apprehensively when she got no response. She tried to remain calm and patient, to let her friend process this news. There was a bit of static on the line and then Emma could hear them clearly.

"We love you guys," Mary Margaret and David told them.

"What did I tell you two about that talking in unison crap," Emma laughed through the tight feeling in her throat.

"I know you will be just fine," Mary Margaret assured her. "Be careful, both of you. Stay in touch by phone. Keep us updated."

"Yes, Mom," Emma deadpanned.

"We will, Lady Snow. Who knew just how right I was with that nickname."

"Uncanny, really," Snow remarked. "And Emma, I'm still going to choose to see that moniker as a compliment."

"Since you are moving forward tonight, we will probably leave tomorrow," David added. "We'll be awaiting your arrival."

"See you soon, fairy boy."

"Aaand there it is. Just couldn't help yourself," Emma chastised.

Killian shrugged unapologetically. "I really couldn't."

"Alright Jones, laugh it up while you can. Just because I am part of your bill of fare doesn't mean I can't kick your ass."

"Okay boys, enough," Mary Margaret laughed.

As the conversation came to an end, the four said their goodbyes, and a sense finality rose in the air. Emma fidgeted nervously, switching between biting her nails, something she hadn't done in years, and pushing her hair behind her ears.

"Come love." Killian could sense her nerves, he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. Deciding she probably needed some time to process despite her earlier rush, he transported them to their bed and continued to hold her comfortingly.

"I don't think we should do it here. I think we should head to my cabin."

Emma nodded her head slowly, contemplating Killian's suggestion. "I suppose you're right. So, are we just going to leave everything?"

Rising from the bed he offered her a hand, "We can take anything you like. Let's pack. Just keep in mind we have to be able to fit it in my car."

Emma's eyes popped open, and she grimaced sheepishly, "I, well I kind of donated it?"

"You gave away the Jolly Roger?" he lamented.

"I'm sorry, babe, I didn't think we'd need it. I mean I didn't think we could drive right through the portal."

Killian flopped down onto the couch, "Aye, I suppose you're right."

Emma sat next to him and took his hand in hers. "I'm sorry, Killian, I should have asked you first. I only gave it to the station, we can get it back if you like."

"Emma, sweetheart, I don't care about the car," he said softly, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "I left a backpack in the trunk when I brought the car home from the woods. I suppose we can make a run by the station to retrieve it."

"Oh, is that all? I got everything out of the car."

Killian visibly relaxed, "Wonderful! Let's go and pack your things then, we will take what you can carry, and I'll carry you."

"Carry me? I can walk, I'm not broken," she huffed indignantly, folding her arms over her chest.

"Relax, Swan. I know you are capable of walking, but it is a hell of a hike to the cabin and we wouldn't make it before daybreak. Plus, I meant carry you while we transport. Unless you've suddenly mastered the concept yourself?"

"Oh, okay then, that makes sense. I'm... sorry."

"I will miss the way your cheeks pink up when you're embarrassed," he chuckled pulling her against his chest and kissing her temple..

"I'm not embarrassed."

"Oh, admit it. You were going to bite my head off for trying to mollycoddle you, and I had a perfectly good reason."

"Fine," she admitted, blushing even deeper, "You're right, are you happy now?"

"Indubitably," he laughed.

They spent the next hour packing and lightly cleaning. David had arranged for a friend to come and dispose of anything Emma and Killian weren't taking, that shouldn't be sold to the next owner.

"Ready?"

"Aye, you ready?"

"Let's go." Emma had opted for a large duffel bag of clothes, and a backpack that housed her few memories she'd kept from her childhood, her toiletries, and her personal effects.

"You travel quite lightly."

"We have each other. What more could I need?"

Killian's eyes bugged out of his head, then he pulled her into a deep kiss. "That was very… sappy for you, Swan."

"I know, how about you just enjoy it instead of making a big deal about it," she smirked.

He leaned in to kiss her again. "Mmmm, as you wish," he muttered between the clash of lips and tongue. "Now, hop on love, and let's away."

~CS~

"I feel weightless when we do that," Emma laughed as she dismounted Killian's back.

"I swear to you woman, if you ever tell me to giddyup and slap my ass again, we better be naked!"

Emma bellowed at his indignance. "I couldn't resist. I was actually riding you, come on, that was funny. Aww, I'm sorry babe," she murmured when she saw the put upon pout on his face.

"Apology not accepted," he retorted. "Unless…"

"Unless what," she coaxed.

Killian grabbed her around the waist and pulled her backside to him, "Unless you'd like to make it up to me?" He thrust his hardening cock against her ass and his fangs emerged.

"Mmmm," she hummed when she heard his fangs snap into place, "I think that can be arranged." Emma pushed her body against his and reached up to wrap her hand around his neck. She whimpered with gratification as his hands roamed her supple body.

"Words cannot explain how much I have missed all of this," he muttered into her ear, still grinding against her ass.

Emma turned in his arms. "Take me to bed and make love to me," she whispered. And while she didn't say it out loud, he knew what she meant. Make love to her one last time while she was still human.

"I promise you, it will be the same after you're turned. We will still have the same fire between us."

"Good."

With that he scooped her up and poofed them to the room below, his hideaway. Setting her on her feet, they looked at each other, tears welling up in her eyes.

Emma snuggled into his comforting palm when he cupped her cheek. "I'm scared."

"I know you are." He could always read her. And even though she always made jokes, and laughed off that which frightened her, he could always see it in her eyes. This was an Emma he was unfamiliar with, an Emma who admitted fear. It tore at his unbeating heart. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

"Okay," she whispered shakily. "What's going to happen?"

"As best as I can decipher, I will, for lack of a better term, suck you dry, you will pass out from blood loss as I drain you. Once that happens, you will sleep until your heart stops, but the venom that passes from me to you is what will allow the transformation to occur. You should wake within a day of your last heartbeat."

"Killian, I never got a chance to tell you goodbye, and just in case-"

Caressing her face between both hands he looked into her eyes and spoke, cutting her off. "No goodbyes, this will work."

She mirrored him by taking his face between her hands. "A year, Killian, a year I had to live with wondering if you knew that you were the best part of my life, the greatest love I ever knew, I won't let that happen again. I need you to know, and I need to know I told you the words. You are the best part of my life, and you are the greatest love I have and ever will know."

Bloody tears pooled along the rims of his shining blue eyes. "I am eternally grateful that I will get to spend the rest of my life with you, you are my everything, Swan."

He closed the small space between them and kissed her sweetly. Gliding his hands down her lithe frame he slid them back up underneath her shirt and slipped it over her head. "Gorgeous," he murmured before pulling her lacy bra down and sucking a nipple into his mouth.

A spark of arousal shot to her core when he delicately grazed a fang over her hardened peak. "I am never going to get over that," she breathed.

Killian chuckled against her breath, "Like the fangs, do ya?"

"Love, the fangs."

"In that case." He bit into her breast, piercing the skin, then withdrew his teeth.

Emma jumped in surprise, both from the sudden sting and the thrumming of arousal that had her panties wet. Blood bubbled to the surface of her skin, then trickled down her breast, and she watched with hooded eyes as Killian licked a path from the bottom of her breast up to the puncture mark. He sucked gently, then ran his tongue over the mark, healing her.

"More," she pleaded.

"Do you… like it when I bite?"

She nodded her head vigorously, for _like_ wasn't sufficient. She was addicted to the burn the piercing of his teeth lit along her skin. The devilish smirk he threw her way had her forgetting any apprehension. "Why are you still dressed, vampire?" It made Emma a little dizzy when Killian undressed with the speed of the Tasmanian devil tearing through a room.

Throwing his hands out to the side, palms up, he cheekily waggled his eyebrows. "Better?"

"Much," she murmured, shucking off her remaining clothes. She guided him to sit on the edge of the bed then got down on her knees, situating herself between his legs. Grasping his hard cock, Emma smirked up at him when his breath caught in his throat. She stroked him firmly and watched as Killian's eyes rolled shut. She seized the opportunity to place her mouth on him, swallowing him whole.

"Oh, fuck," he cried out as he thrust his hips forward with the primal urge to be buried deep.

"Mmmhmmm," she hummed knowingly around his cock. Wrapping her hands around his thighs, she encouraged him to fuck her mouth. She hollowed out her cheeks and arduously bobbed her head up and down his shaft, making sure to swirl her tongue around the head of his cock. But as was becoming more and more commonplace she found herself in a new position in the blink of an eye.

Killian had her laid out on her back, legs spread. "I feel absolutely ravished, darling, but you know my rule. Ladies first."

"I can live with that," she laughed. "Where would you like to start? Maybe here?" she asked, playing with her breasts. "Or maybe, you have something else in mind?" Emma slid her hand down the length of her stomach and lower until she could stroke her fingers through her folds. She closed her eyes and pinched at her nipple as she gathered wetness on her fingers the circled them around her clit. "Is this what you want?" she asked holding her fingers out toward him.

He immediately leaned forward and sucked her digits into his mouth, moaning at the taste of her. When he'd gleaned all he could from her fingers, he buried his face in her soaked pussy.

"Yes," she uttered as he fucked her with his tongue in between licking her up and down. She grasped her breasts tighter, squeezing her nipples and tugging on them gently. She dug her heels down into the mattress, attempting to thrust against his face.

"Is this what you need, love?" Killian asked knowingly. He slipped his fingers into her as deep as they would go and curled them, rubbing along her most sensitive spot. Incoherent words were all he could make out as she fucked his fingers. Peering up to see her caressing her breasts had him rutting into the sheets. He picked up momentum with his fingers, needing her to come so he could bury himself deep within her. When he felt Emma's nails scratching along his scalp right before tugging at his hair he knew she was close.

Deciding to test just how much she enjoyed his bite he removed his mouth from her center, which had her whining, but just as quickly she was calling out his name as he bit into her femoral vein where her inner thigh met her groin. He sucked deeply for just a moment before healing her. Her body shook under his ministrations and he smugly grinned at how thoroughly undone she was.

"Quit gloating and get inside me," she demanded between gasping breaths.

"Don't be angry, Swan, I need you just as much," Killian whispered in her ear as he slowly slid into her swollen heat. He laid still, body pressed to hers, one forearm supporting his weight from crushing her. He gently stroked the apple of her cheek with his free hand, before leaning down to kiss her deeply. He slid his tongue into her mouth, and was met with the solid thrust of her own tongue.

Without any urgency he pumped into her while kissing her fiercely, and Emma could feel him pouring all his love into the kiss. She had one arm wrapped under his arm and over his shoulder, and the other splayed across his back to cup his firm ass. They made out and made love lazily, relishing the connection at each point of contact. Emma's body tingled with the aftershocks of orgasm, and the love that flowed between them. Killian's body warred between the need to convey his love and the burning desire for release.

A lone tear escaped her eye, not for fear, or sadness, but from the bliss that surrounded them. "Do it now."

Killian ceased all movement, studying her closely.

"I'm ready," she whispered.

"Aye, love," he whispered back.

Kissing along her neck he found the spot he craved. He hit deep on every downward stroke, his hips involuntarily picking up in tempo as the thought of her blood incited a frenzy within him while he ran his fangs along her vein, scraping delicately. Killian pierced her tender skin and pulled intensely from her vein as he slammed home. He drank to his undead heart's desire, and despite coming almost immediately, he thrusted into her over and over, staying hard as a rock.

Emma moaned praises when she felt the euphoric intrusion of his fangs. Then he was driving into her with abandon and she was coming once more, this time all over his cock. She crested higher and higher with each pull he took from her neck, and though she knew he came when she felt the evidence of their arousal coating her thighs, he continued to pound into her while avidly drinking from her. Her vision began to swim, and she felt herself letting go of the strong grasp she'd had on Killian.

"I love you, Killian," she murmured desperately as she realized this would be the last time she looked at him through human eyes, and possibly ever.

"And I love you, Emma," he answered. "Sleep my love, and I'll stay by your side until you return to me."

He sunk his teeth back into her flesh when she nodded her acquiescence, an understanding of love and devotion passing between them. The last thing she remembered was floating hazily on her vampire induced high, then nothingness engulfed her.


	5. Chapter 5

She didn't move, nor did she breathe, nary a twitch of her body, as he sat holding her hand. He spoke quietly to her, telling her stories of their time together, and stories of what could still lie ahead for them. He pleaded with her, begged for her to return. It had been two days since the last beat of her heart, and he hadn't left her side. Why hadn't she woke? Had he gone too far?

But when he looked upon her angelic face, he couldn't imagine she was truly gone. She was pale, yes, but not a trace of decomposition or rigor mortis. He'd seen dead bodies, this was not a dead body, this was an undead body, just as his, but still she hadn't woken.

He was a mess, bloody tracks streaked his face and his clothes. His eyes sagged with exhaustion that could only be brought about my mental stress. Laying his head on her stomach he sent up another prayer to any being who might listen to bring his princess back. The tone of Emma's phone ringing startled him from his desolation.

He walked over to grab her phone from the desk, and saw Snow's name incoming. He wasn't ready to admit he'd failed, but he didn't want to keep the couple in suspense either. Inhaling an unnecessary breath and releasing it, he answered the call. "Hello?"

"Killian! Why haven't you called? Is Emma okay?"

Fresh tears pooled at his eyes at the desperation in his friend's voice. "I fear not," he uttered brokenly as he let his tears fall. "She has not woken."

"Well, have you tried kissing her?" Snow asked as though it was the simplest solution in the world.

"What?"

"Have. You. Tried. Kiss-"

"I heard you, but how the bloody hell is that going to help?"

"True Love's Kiss!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Have you gone mad?"

"Killian Jones, unless she is rotting like a corpse in my lab, get your ass in gear and kiss her like her life depends on it!"

When he stopped to think of it, he hadn't kissed her. Sure he had brushed a peck to her hand as he held it, he'd nuzzled her as he lay beside her, but, he hadn't actually kissed her. And at this point what could it hurt?

Walking back over to the bed, he put the phone on the nightstand, then knelt by her side. Palming her cheek, caressing it lovingly, he leaned in and pecked her lips, they stuck a little as he pulled away. Licking the taste of her on his lips he went back in and licked her lips to wet them, then kissed her again, this time like a man willing to fight for what he wants.

The air compressed around them, and time seemed to cease, then a burst of colored prisms reverberated around them in all directions.

"It worked!" Snow shouted through the phone.

 _How could she possibly know that?_ Killian turned toward the phone, puzzled by Snow's exclamation, which is why when she woke, he was ill prepared. A hiss and a vice like grip at his neck were all he knew before he was pinned on his back with a feral Emma restraining him.

"Swan!"

"Help!" she cried out, then with lightning speed latched on to Killian's neck. She sucked greedily at his pulse point, and moaned when his coppery blood hit her tongue.

Killian's fangs snapped into place and his cock jerked to attention as she ravished him with an animalistic need.

"Oh, my, I think they're going at it," Snow said to David on the other end.

"Hang up!"

Killian barely registered the phone call disconnecting before he reversed their position, which took more muscle than he cared to admit. His newborn was flexing her new found strength. "Easy, love, you'll be high for days if you drink too much of my blood."

"More!" Emma seethed.

Killian would have laughed if he didn't know just how much pain she was in as her body fought to sate itself. "I have what you need. Will you let me get it?"

Emma's eyes were wild with need as a burning heat scorched her throat, she needed to feed. She had to concentrate to understand his words as desperation washed over her in waves. Nodding her head once, it took all her restraint not to attack him, consequences be damned.

Killian poofed to the refrigerator and back in seconds, several pints of blood in hand. "I have straws, or I can pour it in a…"

Emma snatched it from him before he could finish, punctured it with her teeth and sucked the bag dry. "More," she demanded, wiping at her blood soaked lips with the back of her hand.

He couldn't help but chuckle this time. "You're like a monosyllabic toddler with a juice pouch addiction," he teased, handing her another bag.

"Fuck you and your big words."

Killian let a hearty laugh escape him. "There she is, my classy lass." He couldn't help but beam at her, the love of his life, and now his progeny. They shared a connection no human could boast. And although his heart was full, his cock still stirred with need to lay claim to this beautiful vampire goddess. He mentally chastised himself, knowing she would need time to adapt, and that she would be far hungrier for things other than his sexual desires.

Emma finally began to feel a bit like herself as she finished her third _juice pouch,_ it did have a much nicer ring to it than blood bag. "You're a mess, why were you crying?" she asked.

"Aye, I should wash my face. I blame it on you. Always so stubborn."

"Huh?"

"It's been two days Emma, and that's only since your last heartbeat, almost three since we made love. You're so stubborn you don't even transform by the vampire timeline."

She crossed her arms over her chest in offense. "I didn't do it on purpose."

Quickly shedding his clothes, Killian threw Emma over his shoulders. "Come here my grouchy vampire," he laughed. "Let's shower."

"Giddyup!" Emma called out, slapping his ass.

Killian smacked her bottom in return.

"Hey! You said the next time I did that we better be naked."

"Aye, doesn't mean I can't spank you back." Setting her down, he reached into the shower and turned it to the hottest setting, then rinsed his face in the sink while waiting for the water to warm. He watched as Emma assessed herself in the mirror, his eyes following the same path as hers. She was paler than before, her skin had always been creamy, now it was more porcelain, though her nipples were still a rosy shade of pink.

Cupping her breasts, she looked at Killian in the mirror, "I guess now that I am timeless these will stay the same, that's definitely a plus."

Scooting up behind her, cock fully erect as he watched her touch herself, he hummed in agreement.

"Someone is ready," she teased rubbing her ass against him. A realization of something hit her as a questioning look passed over her face. She released one breast to slide her hand between her legs. Parting her folds she dipped her fingers inside, curious if she would still get wet when aroused. She was not disappointed as her fingers slid easily through her arousal; closing her eyes in bliss, she moaned softly as she stroked her clit. And that's when it happened. _Click_.

Her eyes popped open, and she stared at herself in the mirror. They were long and svelte, pearly white, and perfect right down to their razor sharp tip that seemed to glisten in the light. "I just got my first fang boner!" she gasped.

"Your first what?"

She smiled widely at him, "Umm, that's what I've been calling it in my head since the first time your fangs popped out when we were kissing. You know, kind of like a hard on."

"Yes, I get the analogy, love. It's just so crude compared to the salaciously extravagant vision you are with one hand on your breast, one buried between your legs, and your fangs resting against those luscious lips." He tightened his grip on her waist, digging his fingers into her hips and pulled her against his throbbing cock.

Emma twisted around in his embrace and brought her lips to his. It was a clash of tongues and fangs as they greedily devoured the other. Emma backed him up until they were both stepping into the steam filled shower, where they continued to make out under the scalding spray of the water.

Everything was different, each sense heightened. She saw clearer, like the way his chest hair formed unique patterns as the water cascaded down his body, the way his nipples stood erect just as hers, and the flex of every muscle under his skin. He smelled the same as he had before she'd turned, but in addition other scents clung to him, like earth, musk, and fresh air. The salt on his skin, the sweetness of his tongue, and the tang of his blood were like a drug now. She could hear the pants and moans, the sucking sounds of their lips, they were like a prurient melody adding to her already heightened arousal. Feeling though, touch was so beyond existential, so much more than she'd been prepared for. And it wasn't only the way his fingertips felt grazing her body, but the way he felt under her fingertips.  
It wasn't merely the feel of his tongue sliding against hers, but the drag of her tongue along his. She wasn't just experiencing the way he played her anymore, but also how she played him.

Emma slid one hand into his hair, tugging to adjust his head how she wanted, in order to savor the taste of him more. Her other hand roamed the expanse of his chest, running through his chest hair, palming his pec, and pinching at a nipple which caused his cock to jerk against her stomach.

In turn, Killian alternated between her breasts, eliciting little noises from his Swan as he tweaked and rolled her nipples. His other hand slid down her back side, caressing her ass, and squeezing her supple cheeks. He emitted a groan of pleasure and relief when he felt her hand wrap around his shaft firmly. Unable to control his desire he thrusted into her grip several times in rapid succession. "I need you, Emma."

"So take me." Suddenly she was pinned against the wall, and she grabbed onto his shoulders to brace herself for the onslaught that was Killian slamming home in one solid stroke. "Goddamn, that feels amazing."

"Yes, it does," he purred into her ear, then he sucked the lobe into his mouth, causing Emma to sigh in contentment. Withdrawing slowly to feel the heavenly massage of her walls around his cock, he then pounded home again. He kept at it, retracting slowly and thrusting quickly. The drag of her wet core was delicious, he wanted nothing more than to fuck her forever in that moment.

"Quit teasing and show me what you can really do," she demanded.

"Why, you don't like this?" he asked as he zealously thrust home.

"Mmmm, I do, but I need you to move faster."

"What's your rush, love?"

"My rush is I want to fucking come," she whined, "we can do slow later."

"So impatient," he chuckled. But without further conversation he sped up his in and out rhythm. He was moving so fast now that the walls shook with their movement.

"Yes," Emma keened as he fucked into her hard and fast. This was what she wanted. To be well and truly fucked. She dug her nails into his shoulders as the wave of lust began to crest, and as she began the descent into a pleasured oblivion she was hit with a need so deep to taste him again that she had her fangs sunk deeply into his flesh before she could register to ask. The moment the tangy substance touched her tongue every nerve ending lit up and she was climaxing, her walls constricting and contracting forcefully around her source of pleasure.

The instant Emma's fangs pierced his neck a feral need overtook him and he bit into her, drinking greedily. Her walls clenched him tightly, sucking his climax from him, and he buried himself deep in a final thrust, stilling momentarily as he came hard. He resumed a languid motion as the aftershocks reverberated through them.

Their combined arousal spilled down Emma's thighs as Killian began moving again, gently pumping in and out of her, riding out the aftermath of their orgasm. She couldn't be bothered to care though as they were in the shower anyway, and she secretly, or maybe not so secretly, loved it a little too. It made her feel powerful to have his essence coating her, knowing she'd done that to her man.

They took their time washing each other, getting distracted between soft caresses and making out. Once finished they toweled each other off and dressed, deciding it was time to set a plan in motion.

~CS~

"Are you all packed?"

She nodded, "Yeah, you?"

"Aye, I've everything we might need while we're there. And we can always come back when we need to."

They'd decided to travel that night, knowing that the sooner they met up with Mary Margaret and David, the sooner they could begin their new lives.

"What is it, love?" he asked as she stared at him, silently assessing. Embracing her, he pulled her close.

"I'm just happy, I haven't felt this good in ages. I never thought I'd see you again, touch you, know the feel of your arms wrapped around me again, and I have no more pain. In fact, I feel brand new, like I've been given a new body."

"Same body, the same one I love, just a second chance of sorts."

She leaned in to kiss him, a chaste thing before nuzzling her head into the crook of his neck and wrapping him in a fierce hug. "I love you, Killian."

"And I love you, but you're going to have to loosen your grip a little."

"Sorry!" Emma released him and backed away. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, my darling, I haven't the need for breath, so I'll be alright. Any harder though and you're going to break some ribs," he chuckled.

"Shit, I gotta keep that in mind when we see David and Mary Margaret.

"They'll be alright. Don't let the connotation that goes with the word fairy fool you. They're mean as the dickens when they need to be, and tough as nails."

"Really," Emma laughed. "I had no idea, I thought they'd be like… delicate."

"Not in the slightest. They may be part of our food chain, but they're more than capable of taking down any number of creature, including our type."

"I wonder what else exists?"

"According to my studies, everything. There isn't a being alive that isn't somewhere on record. And we will know firsthand shortly, the sun is setting and then we can go. Did you tell Snow to be expecting us?"

"Yep, called her and told her they should put on their special vampire safe perfume because we are rolling in tonight."

~CS~

"This is amazing!" Emma yelled out over the wind. They were moving at top speed, which was faster than she'd be driving in the Camaro. Exhilaration coursed through her body as she literally sprinted through the woods of Maine.

Killian smiled over at her, admiring her form. The fact that it was night made no difference, it was like they had built in night vision, and no matter how fast they moved, she was clear as crystal, even though to others they may have been a blur. She moved like she'd been born a vampire. Sleek, graceful, and dare he say, swan like in her movements. Forest animals cleared upon their approach, scampering away to avoid the whirlwind that surrounded the couple as they charged toward their destiny.

Both came to a complete standstill as they were met with the end of the world. Or at least the end of the world as they'd previously known it. The top of Cartographer's Bluff.

Looking down into the vast expanse Emma could see the delicate aura surrounding what they knew to be the portal to the other side.

"Ready?" Killian asked.

Taking his hand in hers and locking their fingers tightly, Emma looked at him and nodded. "Count of three?"

"Aye." He squeezed her hand in his.

They counted in unison, "One… two… three," before taking the literal and figurative leap.

They landed on a surface almost identical to the woods of home, sending a tremor though the earthen floor with the force of their impact.

"It's… just like home," Emma murmured turning around in a circle in the spot where she'd landed.

"Aye, don't let that fool you. The woods probably aren't the safest if even half the supernatural beings we've heard of really exist. Which way did our fairy friends say to head?"

"M said they'd meet us here. Something about being able to sense when we'd arrived."

"With that landing, I don't doubt the whole of the town senses our arrival," Killian muttered. He had an uneasy feeling in his gut. The feeling of being watched, or stalked overwhelmed his senses even though he detected no presence other than their own.

"Not very discreet for Saviors."

Killian and Emma both gave a predatory hiss at the intruder's voice, and their fangs descended as every defense mechanism came to life. Whipping around toward the voice, they were just in time to see a figure literally appear in a cloud of purple smoke.

"Regina Mills? How are you here? You're dead. I saw your body," Emma rambled as confusion clouded her mind. She was so shocked that the woman was alive that she didn't even think twice about how she'd materialized from thin air. She appeared the same as she had in Maine, crisp black hair, makeup perfected, everything right down to her sensible pants suit matched to a T.

The woman laughed, an evil, deep, throaty laughter that bore no humor. "No doubt my sister, parading in the outside world as me again. She always was green with envy that I was mother's favorite. She's dead you say?"

"Aye," Killian answered. "I killed her," he volunteered before Emma could say anymore.

"Hmmm, brave are you? Protecting the little blonde princess? Bravery will get you nowhere here," she sneered before holding both hands out toward the couple.

Silver chains coiled around them, constricting their bodies. Emma could feel the warmth of the metal through her jacket, a faint stinging lighting up her skin. When she struggled against it her bare wrist made contact and a piercing flame like pain singed her skin. She cried out involuntarily, and again the witch before them laughed mirthlessly.

"You might not want to do that, Savior," she taunted. "Vampire 101, silver burns like a bitch."

"Fuck you," Emma spat. Anger tore at her, an instantaneous hatred blossoming within her for the woman standing before them.

A ferocious snarl ripped from Regina's throat as she suddenly found herself on the pointy end of a David's longsword. "I'll be back for you!" she screeched pointing a sharp black nail at them. Then, just as quickly as she'd appeared, she and the chains she possessed were gone in the same plume of purple smoke.

Mary Margaret lowered her bow and arrow and ran over to her friends. "Sorry we weren't here sooner, I didn't think she'd try anything right away."

Emma rubbed sharply at her wrist, "Goddamnit that burns."

"Stop, love, allow me." Killian brought his index finger up to his fang and pierced it, he rubbed the blood along Emma's wrist where she'd been burned.

Instant relief flooded the area where Killian applied his blood, healing her. "I guess I could have done that… I still have a lot to learn," she grumbled. "Too bad I wasn't much of a supernatural aficionado."

"Where would the fun be in that," he teased.

Emma rolled her eyes, he always made time for flirting. "And why would you have any reason to think Regina Mills would attack us?" Emma asked her friend. "Wait, that's your stepmother? The evil queen you told us about?"

"One in the same. Her sister, my Aunt Zelena was the one who committed the Locksley murders, she was disguised as Regina, body shifting was a favorite pastime of hers."

"For fuck's sake," Emma muttered. "I can't imagine anyone being prepared for all this stuff, but damn, vampires, fairies, evil stepmothers out for revenge…"

"Come on," David said, "let's get back into town, we'll get you guys set up at Granny's and grab a bite to eat." He ducked his head, embarrassed the minute the words left his mouth.

"Is that an offer, mate?" Killian, Emma, and Mary Margaret all snickered at David's chagrin.

"You know what I mean, asshole."

"I do," Killian laughed while clapping David's back.

The four made their way to Granny's diner and after Emma and Killian checked into a room, they all sat down at a corner booth.

With the adrenaline at a minimum, shock and awe radiating Emma's existence, questions to be asked needling at Killian, and a quiet resolve resting over Snow and David, an awkward silence settled over the group. No one knew where to start.

Luckily, Granny ambled over to take their order. "The usual for you two," she asked of the fairy couple. Both nodded their agreement. "And what about you two?"

Emma and Killian looked at each other, then at their friends, then at Granny and back to each other. Could they tell her they were vampires? Did she already know? Each opened their mouth and shut it several times before Granny got impatient.

"Look we carry Plasmix, Vitality, and Sanguine. We got A, B, O, and AB all in positive or negative, now what'll it be? I ain't got all night."

Emma wrinkled her nose, no way was she drinking blood for the world to see. Killian on the other hand ordered away, "I think a nice AB positive will suffice, I'll try the Sanguine."

"On the rocks, room temperature, or body temperature?"

Emma blanched as her human brain warred with the vernacular associated with her vampire cravings, _damn,_ she really could go for a pint at body temperature.

"On the rocks," Killian responded.

"I'll take the same, but body temperature," she added meekly.

"Coming right up," Granny answered with all the enthusiasm of a canine about to be vaccinated.

Killian wrapped his arm around her. "What is it, my love?"

"Nothing, I mean… I'm just not used to this yet. We are sitting in a very public place about to do something that seems… abnormal to do in public."

Killian's face fell a little at her words. "We can take it upstairs if you're embarrassed."

"No," she insisted. "I'll get over it, this is our new normal, right?"

He nodded his head, though a melancholy expression still marred his features.

It took a moment, but it dawned on Emma what was bothering her suddenly broody vampire. "Killian, I am not embarrassed- Killian, look at me."

She turned in the bench seat to face him, pulling his chin toward her. "Can we have a minute, you guys?"

Snow smiled knowingly, and before another word was said, the couple shrunk down to their bumblebee size and flew away. Emma shook her head, nothing could be done normally here.

She focused her attention back on Killian. Caressing his cheek, she whispered quietly for only him to hear. "I don't know exactly what's going on in your head, but this has nothing to do with you, or what we are. I can tell you think I'm regretting my decision, but I'm not. It's just a little disconcerting to be ordering _blood_ in public. You've had a year to embrace being vampire. My first thought on every decision is still defaulting to my human memories, that will change. I love you, and I love that we are starting a new life together, please don't doubt that for a moment."

Killian breathed a sigh of relief and rested his forehead to hers. "You're right," he sighed. He had not taken into consideration that Emma still had more adjusting to do than himself. He wasn't used to openly acting in his natural state either, but he was fully aware of his natural state after a year's time. "I was just worried you might be having second thoughts."

"Never," she responded, then she joined her lips to his, kissing him soundly. A loud clanging of a glass being set down broke them apart before they got too carried away.

"Order's up," Granny singsonged. Her wolfish grin was anything but the innocence she tried to convey about her abrupt interruption of their moment.

David and Snow were back as soon as the testy battlax set down their two heaping plates of lasagna.

 _That looks delicious,_ Emma internally pined as she eyed the Italian cuisine across from her. Her _dinner_ was in a rather fancy goblet at least.

~CS~

"So tell us," Killian started as soon as all the dishes were cleared away, "what do we need to know about Storybrooke, its inhabitants, and your rotten stepmother."

"Well, since we've been gone, Regina has taken full control of the supernatural world. She's wiped everyone's memories with a dark curse of some sort. Because we weren't here when it was cast, we have our memories. I think it's part of the reason we fled. Anyhow, the only way to eliminate this curse is to eliminate its caster."

"Regina," Killian and Emma concluded.

"Oh, now who's speaking in unison?" Snow teased. "Yes, Regina. Since she didn't get her happy ending, she has decided that no one will have a happy ending."

"How do you know so much about her motives and how to stop her?" Emma asked.

"The only other resident of Storybrooke to retain their memories. The librarian." David answered.

"And just how did the librarian manage that?" Killian asked, suspicion clear in his tone.

"She lives between realms, kind of a liaison for supes on the other side. She's how David and I got our memories back. Since we voluntarily gave ours up, as the keeper, Belle had the power to restore them."

Killian rubbed a hand over his chin, pondering what their next step might be. Ever the detective, he decided a little investigating was in order. "What say you and I go meet this librarian, see if we can find any answers about how to take down this thief of happiness."

Emma nodded her head, it was like old times. Working a case, together.

"That reminds me, before you guys go off on your hunt, the town of Storybrooke is holding a vote this weekend. There is no sheriff, the only form of government is Mayor Mills and her crooked bodyguards. The townsfolk don't remember the last time Regina wasn't the only source of law. What we know is there's been some unrest brewing, so we organized an election."

"Who's running?" Killian asked.

"I am running for sheriff," David said. "Unopposed right now, unless either of you want to throw your hats in the ring?"

Killian and Emma both shook their heads. They had enough newness to process, they didn't need the addition of being the town's top official. "We'll leave that to you, mate."

"And I'm running against Regina for mayor. We will be campaigning tomorrow at the Miner's Festival, can we count on you guys for support?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Of course!" Emma said.

"And if you need to hire a few deputies, you can count on us," Killian added.

The couples parted company, with Snow pointing them in the direction of the library. They'd read the part about how they were fated to defeat the evil queen, they just hadn't the slightest clue in how to actually accomplish the task.

~CS~

"Emma Swan and Killian Jones. Two of our newest members," the librarian greeted them with a warm smile. "Follow me, we haven't much time."

The two shared a look of confusion, not sure why there was a sudden rush.

Belle led them to a section of books that looked to be older than time itself and began pulling volume after volume off the shelf.

"If we're in a rush why are you grabbing twenty years worth of reading?" Emma asked.

"She hasn't read with her new eyes, eh?" Belle asked Killian.

"I suppose not," Killian responded looking at Emma, "we'll breeze through this love. But, if you don't mind me asking, why the sudden rush?"

"Oh, well now that the her dark highness knows that you two are in town, she will attempt to destroy anyone and everything that threatens her existence. That includes you both, your friends, and this town. She will stop at nothing, her ultimate goal is power. Regina would rather die than surrender. She will attack at every turn, and she will do it soon."

Taking some of the books from Belle's arms, the couple sat at the nearest table and began reading. They poured over countless ways to break curses, and Emma was surprised to learn that just about every fairy tale she'd known as a child was a reality. There were sleeping curses and memory curses. Curses that took away voice, sight, one that made you appear different, maybe not even human, and those were just the tip of the iceberg. In fact Emma read of one who was cursed with a frozen touch, the creature had gone into hiding after burying her hometown in snow and ice.

A frustrated sigh slipped from Emma. "There are thousands of curses, hundreds of ways to break them, but nothing about how to take down an evil queen in here."

Killian reached over and took her hand in his, comfortingly passing his thumb over her knuckles. "If it were as simple as reading it in a book, anyone would be able to do it. I think maybe we're trying too hard. We are fabled to be her demise, it says nothing of needing to do so in a specific or methodical manner. Perhaps we just play it by ear?"

"Play it by ear!? Are you fucking crazy," Emma screeched. "I just got you back, I am not going up against the most powerful villain in the supernatural world half cocked."

"Ooh, I love it when you get all fiery. I assure you, I'm never just half cocked when you're around, darling."

Emma's eyes widened before she burst into a hysterical giggle. "Oh my gosh, this is all a joke to you."

Standing from his chair Killian sat at the edge of the table and brought Emma flush against him. "It's not a joke, I take this peril very seriously. But I can't see pouring over this useless information when it doesn't necessarily pertain to us. We need to be ready, yes, but I think that requires more of our old skill set, combined with our new skill set than any of this mumbo jumbo."

"What if we are missing something?"

"We're not love, together we can do anything. Come, let's clean up this mess and get out of here. Tomorrow we can support David in his campaign at the festival, I doubt her royal pain in the ass will try anything in such a public setting." They each grabbed an armful of books, replacing them on the shelves in no time. "As for now, let's enjoy the night. We can stroll the town, or see the docks, go to that little bar down the way, or maybe just retire to our boudoir," he suggested, waggling his eyebrows flirtatiously while his tongue ran the length of his lower lip.

Emma leaned in to attack the tongue that so playfully teased her, she sucked it into her mouth quickly, surprising Killian. His pleased moan made her smile through the attentions she laid on him. "Okay, definitely the bedroom," he mumbled into her mouth.

~CS~

"You are utterly insatiable," Killian purred into her ear as he rode her from behind. Emma was propped on her elbows and knees, ass in the air, and Killian had one hand wound into her hair which he held taut, and the other buried between her thighs stroking her clit.

"You should talk," she panted, he'd come twice already, gotten her off three times, and still hadn't slowed his pace. His cock just felt so perfect, whether he was fucking into her hand, sliding down her throat, or nestled deep inside her walls, and she couldn't think of a better way to spend an evening.

When they were finally spent, they bedded down. Sleep wouldn't take them anymore, but a serene almost trance like state did allow them down time. Wrapped up in each other they enjoyed the zen atmosphere that surrounded their still forms. Emma and Killian both felt as if they were recharging, pulling the necessary love and support from the other as they lay quietly.


	6. Chapter 6

The phone in Emma and Killian's room gave a shrill ring, stirring them from their down time. They'd held each other through the early morning hours after fucking and making love repeatedly.

"Who's calling this early on a Saturday?" Emma asked grumpily.

"You don't even require sleep anymore, and you're still grouchy in the morning! Such a toddler," he smirked at her.

Emma shot him a death glare then picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Meet us downstairs for breakfast?" Mary Margaret asked chipperly.

"Breakfast doesn't appeal to me anymore now that I'm on a liquid diet," she snarked, although the minute the words were out of her mouth she knew them to be untrue. Her stomach didn't growl since she really didn't have a digestive system anymore, but her throat burned with the itch to consume. "Okay, actually that sounds really good, but we can't come down during the day, I mean we have these cool blackout shades in our room. I guess you guys could come up here."

Mary Margaret bellowed into the phone before explaining to Emma that those were merely shades in their room, because in Storybrooke it was more than safe for them to be out in the daytime. "That same force field, or aura you see around the portal, that protects all of Storybrooke's vampire residents from the harmful effects of sunlight."

Her words were like music to Emma's ears, she was so happy she would have cried if she didn't know how much of a mess it would make. After agreeing to meet the Nolan's downstairs, Emma hung up and then jumped straight up into the air and landed on her feet on the bed. Hopping up and down, she excitedly chanted, "We can go in the sun, we can go in the sun!"

Killian laughed at her girlish antics, beyond delighted at his Swan's enthusiasm.

~CS~

"Okay! So how was your first night here? Does it feel like home, do you love it? Do you think you could call Storybrooke home?" Mary Margaret fired off questions the moment the couple sat down.

"Easy dear," David chuckled. "Why don't we let them get a little more settled than the local bed and breakfast before we go asking about life decisions."

Emma and Killian just laughed lightly at their friend's enthusiasm. Looking at her lover, and seeing his relaxed state, Emma knew Killian could easily call this place home, and she knew she would call home wherever Killian was. After a lifetime of growing up without family roots, home really was where her heart was, and that was with Killian.

"I don't see any reason why Storybrooke wouldn't fit all of our needs," Emma said. Feeling Killian's sharp intake of breath against her side, she knew he was pleasantly surprised with her admission.

He gave her a gentle squeeze around her shoulders and pulled her just a little closer than they had already been sitting. "Aye, love, I agree. Although, I would follow you to the end of the world. Or time. So, whether we choose to live here, forest city, Transylvania, my home will always be where you are."

Emma looked at him in shock, it was as if he'd read her mind. And as much as she wanted to tell him that she had been thinking the same thing, she didn't want their breakfast companions to make fun of them. She tried to convey with her eyes, that the feeling was mutual. Suddenly, she could hear Kilian's voice as clear as day, not out loud, but in her mind! He was telling her he knows, he knows she feels the same. Leaning in, she kissed him soundly, and with her mind, tried to tell him that she loved him.

"I love you, too," he whispered aloud.

Emma giggled against his cheek, this new found trick was extraordinary! They could communicate silently, who knew the endless possibilities.

"Oh, jeez, it's too early in the morning for all this lovey dovey nonsense," Granny grumbled as she came up to the table with her ever present curmudgeonly attitude. "Especially after the late night sexual frenzy you two initiated," she added, scrutinizing the vampire couple.

David half choked on and half spit out his coffee, "What the hell! I want no part of this information."

"You and the misses most certainly took part last night," she scoffed. Along with the whole of Storybrooke, everybody got some last night."

Mary Margaret blushed a deep shade of pink as she hid her face in her hands, while David continued to clear his throat and clean up the mess he'd made. Emma's eyes went round as saucers and her mouth dropped open. Killian just bellowed deeply, he would wear that badge unabashedly. He certainly knew what his Swan did to him, who was he to doubt what their sexual energy could do to the quaint town of Storybrooke?

"What's so funny? I'll be cleaning sheets for the next month thanks to you two."

"Ugh, noooo," Emma moaned. "Too much information."

"And who knows what Ruby got up to, she hightailed it outta here like a bitch in heat."

"I heard my name!" Ruby shouted from the back.

"My what big ears you have," Granny shouted back.

"Can we just order," David said exasperatedly.

"Certainly," Granny said sweetly, then she held the notebook out to David, "you seemed to take orders awfully well in the bedroom last night, perhaps you want to give this a go?"

David roughly scrubbed a hand over his face, and muttered something about the power of relinquishing control under his breath.

Killian laughed loudly again, then commenced with ordering to get his friend out of this sticky situation.

"What are they?" Emma whispered, once Granny left the table.

"Oh, you don't have to whisper, they'll hear you no matter what. Werewolf hearing," Mary Margaret explained.

 _Shit,_ Emma thought.

Killian chuckled at Emma's reaction that only he had heard. "Alright, what time should we be at the festival for your first campaign speech?"

"It's tonight around six, in front of the clock tower. Hopefully there will be a big enough turn out to garner a decent vote. These people are used to the dictatorship of my evil stepmother right now. I'm hoping her occupancy doesn't keep them from attending."

"Have you done anything to drum up any sort of crowd?" Emma asked.

"Well," Mary Margaret began, handing a paper to Emma and Killian, "we were hoping for some help from you guys. I made these flyers last night. They outline the benefits of an elected government, from petty crime to the imposition of Regina."

"Not to mention this charming mug, Dave," Killian jested, pointing to a picture of David flashing his best pearly white smile for the camera.

"We'd like to deliver them door to door before the festival-"

"Door to door, that will take hours!" Emma whined.

The group just laughed at her, and she stared back at them with a slightly offended look on her face.

"You'll have to excuse my toddler," Killian laughed, "she's still learning how to vampire."

Emma slapped her palm to her forehead when she remembered that this task would actually only take a fraction of the time, now that she could break olympic records for sprinting. "Hardy har har," she rolled her eyes at them. "And you," she narrowed her eyes and elbowed Killian in the ribs, "better stop calling me a toddler, or you're going to be inciting the next sexual frenzy all by yourself."

Killian's expression instantaneously morphed from _this is the funniest shit ever_ to _somebody just took my favorite toy._ The way his lower lip jutted out into a pout and his eyebrows scrunched together in distress was downright hilarious and they all just laughed harder, Emma included this time.

"I'd pay to watch that," Granny teased as she brought the drinks to the table.

David and Mary Margaret continued to crack up, Killian froze in shock at Granny's bawdy taunt, and Emma growled.

"Oh, don't you worry yourself, hon," Granny told Emma, "he's just got a pretty face is all, I'm just having fun teasing.

"Sorry! I don't even know what came over me. I know it was a joke, that was totally involuntary," she said remorsefully. She really didn't know what had taken over, she knew Granny wasn't being serious.

"No apologies necessary. I imagine what a bonded pair experiences is akin to my kind marking their territory," she chuckled. "And before you say it, no I don't mean pissing on something, that's not the only way we mark our territory!"

The group all laughed again, and then Ruby was there with the Nolan's food. "What's so funny out here? I miss everything," she complained.

"I'll let you outta the back more often when you stop trying to seduce everything that walks in here," Granny chastised.

Emma hissed again, this time at the pretty young thing that was twirling her hair on her finger with a lascivious grin on her face. She immediately clapped both hands over her mouth in chagrin.

 _Easy, love… I only have eyes for you._

Emma shook her head in embarrassment, she was going to have to get this peculiar jealousy under control. His words still comforted her, even though she knew that without him having to tell her.

Granny laughed boisterously at Emma's reaction. "Don't you worry about her either, not that she doesn't bed the occasional man, but you're far closer to her type than your boyfriend."

If Emma could have blushed, she would have as she looked up at the she-wolf. The brunette winked at her flirtatiously, then sauntered back to the kitchen.

"Unfortunately for your granddaughter, I don't share," Killian said with just a hint of possessiveness coloring his tone.

"Give it a century," Ruby called back.

Emma's jaw dropped when Killian growled in response.

"Stop that nonsense, the last thing you want to do is give Ruby a reason to mess with you, she has no real intent toward your mate. But you show her that she raises your hackles and she'll continue to ruffle your feathers," Granny said, giving them a quick analysis of her only kin.

After breakfast the group split up the flyers and then set to the task of passing them out to the denizens of Storybrooke. Most households received the information with genuine curiosity and a desire to learn more. David and Snow were excited to head home, a farm they'd apparently owned before they'd fled, and work on his campaign speech.

"Remember, tonight at six," David reminded them.

"We'll be the ones in the front row heckling you," Killian joked. He turned to Emma once the couple was gone. "Well, it looks like we have the day to ourselves, what say we take a walk in your beloved sun?"

"I say, yes, that sounds perfect. I never knew how much the sun meant to me until I couldn't have it anymore."

As they walked hand in hand down the main street of the small town they passed numerous small shops. Everything was so picturesque, a floral boutique, a bakery, and the cutest little ice cream shop.

"Any Given Sundae," Emma read the sign. "I'll miss ice cream," she lamented.

"You don't have to, love, look," Killian said, pointing at a sign in the window.

 _Now serving Sanguine Ice_

Emma wrinkled her nose, "Too soon, that just doesn't sound as appetizing as Rocky Road, or Cookies and Cream. Maybe one day."

Killian chuckled and squeezed her hand. "Come, let's go to the docks."

They walked out onto the pier and Emma leaned against the railing to look out over the calm water in the marina. Closing her eyes, she angled her head up to the sun, and enjoyed the heat that warmed her now constantly cool skin. Killian came up behind her to wrap his arms around her middle, and as he rested his chin on her shoulder, she was struck with a strong sense of nostalgia. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she recalled the moment her heart was remembering. As she didn't want to wipe bloody tears on her sleeves, she blinked them back. "You know what this reminds me of?" she murmured.

"Aye," he answered before kissing her cheek.

"You do?"

"As momentous as it was for you darling, I assure you it was the same for me. It was the first time you told me you loved me. I had wanted to tell you for months, but I wasn't sure you were ready."

Emma twined her fingers with his, and pulled his arms around her tighter. "I realized in that exact moment, I had been without love my whole life because I was going to have a stronger love with you than most people experience in their whole lives." She snuggled her head into his neck as the wind blew across the cold water.

"True love, if we're being precise."

"True love," Emma repeated, testing out the words. "So how exactly do we prove true love?"

"Do you doubt me, Swan?"

"No," she laughed, "I know the book says a vampire and his true love defeat Regina, but how do we know we are true love?"

"I know it in my heart, dearest," he declared, "but if you require finite proof, I woke you with True Love's Kiss."

"How did I miss this monumental smooch?"

"It was when you first rose as a vampire. You didn't come back to me easily, love. And when you finally did, it was at Snow's suggestion that _I kiss you_. A whole rainbow zephyr surged over us and you came back to me when our lips locked."

Emma swirled around in his hold and threw her arms around his neck, "I knew our love was special," she mumbled in between attack kisses.

"Aye, it is," he whispered against her lips and tongue. Breaking abruptly, he smiled her new favorite fangy grin. "I left something back in the room, do you mind if I go to retrieve it?"

"Not at all," she replied, a matching smile on her face. Before she could even contemplate what he needed from the room, he was back. But this time instead of wrapped in her arms, he was down on one knee.

"Do you remember the backpack I needed from the car?"

Emma nodded her head mutely, cocking her head to the side as she scrutinized her boyfriend down on bended knee.

"I needed it for this." Killian held up his palm to reveal a small black box. "I've loved you since forever, and I'll love you forevermore, I want eternity with you. So, Emma Swan, what do you say? Will you marry me?"

Emma couldn't stop her messy tears from spilling over as he declared his eternal love for her. She knelt down with him, cupped both of his scruffy cheeks, and stared into his luminous blue eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips before she graced him with one simple word, "Yes."

Killian let out a jubilant breath and a small chuckle, and then she was kissing him. When they broke the seal of their lips, Killian grasped her left hand in his and slipped the ring onto her finger.

There in the middle of the pier, still both knelt, the couple made out like young teenagers. Kissing, sighing, giggling, with sanguine colored tears streaking their faces, they expressed their love with the simplest form of physical intimacy.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the devil just happened?" Killian asked, head swimming with confusion. His knees were no longer pressed to the roughened wood of the pier, but rested on a plush surface. The sun was not surrounding them anymore, and the smell of the ocean was now distant. He opened his eyes to see he was surrounded by their small quarters at Granny's. "I don't think that was me, love."

Emma looked around sheepishly. "I was just thinking how much I wanted you to take me to bed," she giggled. "I guess I can poof us too. It's way more comfortable when I do it, whenever you do it I feel all-"

"Dizzy," he finished for her.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Because my head is still spinning."

Emma huffed, for just a moment she'd thought she was better at one facet of vampiring.

"Oh, don't sulk, did you think you were better at transporting than me?" he teased, reading her like always.

She gave him a rough shove and he found himself trapped beneath his vampire princess in a most inviting way. Emma had both his hands pinned above his head, and though he might've been able to break free, he had no real intention to do so. Killian studied her lusty eyes, vibrant green and surrounded by thick lashes. His eyes traveled down the narrow bridge of her nose, dotted with light freckles, and landed on her full lips.

"Gods, you're gorgeous." He'd never tire of the way her slender fangs rested against the plump pink skin of her lower lips, he wanted to bite her lip and suck her fangs. Just the thought had him bucking his hips into hers.

Emma preened as he keenly surveyed every facet of her face, batting her eyelashes, and darting her tongue out to wet her lips. She could feel him hardening where she was rested against him. _This_. This is what she'd wanted when she'd transported them right here to their bed. His words had her smiling lazily, then came the sharp contrast of a dirty grind as he bucked against her. Emma tightened her grip as she pressed herself against him, eliciting a groan from deep in Killian's throat.

"At least let me feel how wet you are if you're going to rub all over me," he requested.

His voice had dropped to that husky, wrecked tone Emma couldn't resist. With a speed inherent only to vampires, Emma stripped them both naked and resumed the same position. Aligning herself, she slid her wetness over him, coating his rock hard cock in her arousal. She smiled wickedly when his eyes rolled shut in bliss.

"Let me touch you," he whimpered, struggling lightly against her hold. He needed more, he bit his tongue against the filth he wanted to speak to her, but fuck he wanted to taste her soft, pink pussy.

Emma inhaled sharply, he may not have spoken the words aloud, but she'd heard them nonetheless. Ceasing all movement, and looking at him with a smirk she told him, "I heard that."

"Sorry, love, forgive me for being the animal you turn me into," he apologized. He definitely didn't want to soil the day he'd proposed and she'd accepted with vulgar thoughts.

"Say it out loud," she demanded.

Killian's pupils dilated as he realized she wanted him to talk to dirty to her. It wasn't something new for them, but he didn't normally refer to her so graphically. "I want to taste what I do to you."

Still pinning his arms, Emma leaned further into his space, breasts dragging along his chest, and shook her head no. _Say it out loud_ , she thought to him.

"Fuck I want to taste your soft, swollen, dripping pussy, Emma," he murmured gruffly.

A shiver ran up her spine and she shook against his body, "As you wish," she whispered. The moment she released his wrists he took action.

Killian lifted her by her hips and effortlessly positioned her above his face. He had no intentions of slow and merciful as he locked an arm around each thigh and pulled her against his watering mouth. Plunging his tongue into her depths he felt her body convulse at the sudden intrusion.

Emma reached out for the headboard desperate to stay upright as Killian fucked her with his tongue. They both froze when they heard the groaning of metal. She looked down at Killian with wide eyes.

"What was that?"

"I bent it," she giggled.

"Bent what?"

"The headboard."

"Holy shit, that's wrought iron, you brute," he chuckled.

"I had nothing to hold on to," she laughed.

Killian sat up, tossing Emma straight back so she landed softly against the mattress. "There, now you won't fall," he said before diving back in. This time he focused on her clit. Licking between her folds he found the promised land, the one that had Emma running her fingers into his hair. "Watch the hair love," her muttered through his assault.

Emma tugged at his thick locks, desperate to come. Wrapping her legs and locking them around his head she pushed into his mouth, panting curses, his name and pleases.

"Please what?" He pulled back to gaze at the mess he'd made of her. She was so wet her juices were running down her thighs and coating her perfect backside.

"Please make me come," she begged.

"Mmm, as you wish." Dragging his fingers through her arousal to wet them, he sunk them into her depths while he resumed loving her clit with his mouth. As he pumped his fingers in and out of her soaked channel, he could smell her impending release as her blood thrummed louder; he wanted nothing more than to bury his cock and bite her. Killian yearned for at least one or the other, and since his digits were currently pleasuring her, he removed his mouth from her, and then applied his thumb to her clit.

"Don't stop," she whined. But before she could even fully miss his tongue, she was lost to her climax as she felt his fangs pierce the vein at the juncture of her thigh. Her fist balled into his hair tightly as he drank deeply, and the harder he pulled the harder she came. Her walls constricted against his fingers while her clit pulsed with pleasant vibrations that wracked her body.

The wet sounds of his fingers fucking her, and her sinful noises had Killian so frenzied, by the time he sunk his teeth into her femoral he was rutting desperately into the sheets. When the coppery tang graced his tongue he lost himself, he grunted as he pulled her blood into his mouth, fuck he was going to come. He couldn't even be sorry, the mix of her arousal and her blood was intoxicating, an ecstasy like no other.

Emma was still riding his fingers as little aftershocks washed over her. Her eyes blinked open when she smelled Killian's arousal in the air. Looking down at him still buried between her thighs, she came again as she watched the muscles of his back tense and release as he fucked into the sheets and knowing she'd turned him on that much. "God, you look so good like that," she whispered. "Get up here," she demanded as he continued to rut, "let me help."

Killian immediately complied, knowing he'd be blushing right now if he could. His cock was painfully engorged and he had to wrap his hand around himself to relieve some of the pressure.

"Do you want my hand or my mouth?"

"What if I want this?" he asked cupping her sex.

"Later," she told him as she encouraged him to straddle her stomach. "Do you want to come down my throat or on these? She asked as she caressed her breasts, which had been painfully neglected up until this point.

"Fuck, let me mark you, love," he growled.

Emma removed his hand, placed it on her breast, then wrapped her own hand around his rigid cock. She pumped him a few times then stopped. "This won't do." She reached her hand between them and coated it in her release. Killian groaned at the wetness as she resumed stroking him expertly, slowly at first and picking up speed as she went.

Emma watched him squeeze his eyes shut, throw his head back and moan in pleasure, he kept his hands where she wanted them, fondling her breasts and tweaking her nipples just how she liked. Reaching her arm around him she grabbed a handful of his firm ass and encouraged him to pump into her hand. He was a sight to behold, abs rippling with exertion as he chased his release. "That's it, mark me, baby," she told him when his cock started to jerk and his thrusts became erratic. She let go of his ass and worked his balls as he closed in on his orgasm.

Her words were his undoing, he unscrewed his pleasure closed eyes and brought his head forward. He released her breasts and grabbed onto the footboard so he could watch as he shot his release over her chest. The coil of desire in his loins finally snapped as he felt the pulsing pleasure spilling forth, his balls throbbing as Emma gently massaged them. The way he painted her chest had him emptying himself in long pulses that stole the breath he didn't need, yet the broken stutters of gratification indicated otherwise. They didn't even flinch when the bed protested again, this time under Killian's grip.

"Christ, you are brilliant." Killian leaned down and kissed her soundly, not caring about the sticky mess that now covered both their chests. He rolled them so they were both on their sides. "What brought that on?"

Emma shrugged. "Just felt like getting a little dirty, I guess." She kissed him again. "Now make love to me like a proper vampire. I know you're ready again," she said, arching an eyebrow when she looked between them to where his erection was poking her stomach.

Kissing her lovingly, fangs and tongues, Killian pulled her thigh up and around his hip and entered her where they lay. They kept a languid pace as they rocked together, she never released his mouth, and their hands never stopped roaming the other. They were connected at every physical point imaginable as well as mind, and soul. Their I love yous and other sweet nothings echoed in the other's thoughts as they communicated silently. Although not outwardly as dramatic, their combined climax was just as powerful. They lay quietly after, enjoying the cliched afterglow that only the act of making love to the one you cherish can bring.

"What time is it," Killian asked.

"Who cares?"

"Probably Dave, if we're late."

"Nooo, I don't want to leave this bed… like ever," she complained.

 _Stop being a spoilt toddler, we have a friend to help._ Emma heard his quip loud and clear, even his deep laugh rang out in her head.

Throwing the covers back, Emma huffed as she rose to her feet and headed to the shower. _I was going to let you have shower sex, but forget it now_. She sashayed away, swinging her lovely ass for Killian's perusal and subsequent torture.

He visibly pouted, for her benefit only, knowing that she couldn't resist him, just a s he couldn't resist her.

She tried to hold in her laughter as she saw him trying to pout with fangs, it was quite endearing. She held strong though and shrugged her shoulders noncommittally before hopping in the shower.

Emma purred under the hot spray of the shower, it wasn't that she was ever cold, it was just a heady contrast to her body's natural state. Lost in the simple joy of the hot water, she yelped in surprise when Killian was suddenly in her space, hands planted firmly at her hips.

After enjoying each other once more, they got ready for their evening at breakneck speed. It turned out they weren't late, so they'd decided to go and enjoy the Miner's Festival. If this was to be home, they may as well mingle with the inhabitants of the quaint little town.

As they arrived at the festival, Emma's eyes lit up. This was like a carnival, the smells weren't as enticing as they once were, but she did love to ride the ferris wheel and play games. "Oh, look, a corn maze!" Emma tugged his arm toward the maze, there were multiple entrances, and she wanted to race. This was no ordinary corn maze she realized as they walked up to see it was built over two acres of land. "Okay, last one to the finish owes the other… anything they want in the bedroom."

"That's a given in our bedroom, Swan. How about just bragging rights."

She did hate when he bragged, so she would just have to win. "You're on," she agreed holding her right hand out to shake his.

"Then we have an accord." After shaking her hand he placed feather light kisses along her knuckles, causing her to shiver.

Then he was gone in the blink of an eye. "Hey! That's cheating," Emma yelled before taking off into the entrance on the opposite end he'd chosen.

Killian used an algorithm method as he tried to find his way to through the maze, returning to his last move each time he'd hit a dead end. There were numerous people in the maze, but he focused in on Emma. He snickered under his breath as he heard her cursing. He loved her competitive streak.

Emma used a fight or flight method, frenziedly heading in the opposite direction every time she'd hit a dead end. Frustrated after the umpteenth wall she'd come to, a sneaky thought came into her mind. She carefully shielded her plan, so her pirate wouldn't pick up on it.

When Killian was finally arriving to the finish line, he was satisfied with the time he'd taken, sure that he'd bested her.

"It's about time," she teased as she walked up to him with two twist top bottles in hand. "I got us Vitality this time. Would you like O positive or O negative." She offered him the beverage nonchalantly, a smirk upon her lips.

"How the hell did you get through that so quickly?"

"Guess I'm just good," she laughed.

Killian narrowed his eyes, studying her calm, cool, collected demeanor. Something was off he decided. "Mmhmm, and you had enough time to go procure refreshments as well. You, Emma Swan, are a liar and a cheat," he whispered so only she could hear his outrageous accusations.

"I am not, you scoundrel!"

Killian swept her up in his arms and planted a kiss to her lips, "Are so. How'd you do it? Did you pay someone to show you the way? Did you follow all the little lads that have done it fifty times already?"

"Hmph, I'll never tell."

He didn't have to use words to force her hand, instead he dropped his bottle to the hay covered ground before tickling her mercilessly.

"Stop! Stop! Mercy," she panted as he wiggled his fingers against her sides, eliciting the wonderful sound that was her carefree laugh.

"You'll 'fess up?"

"Yeeesss!" she screeched.

Killian halted his attack and waited for her answer.

"I… I poofed to the finish, okay?" she admitted haughtily.

"You dirty cheat," he chuckled.

"Hey, all's fair in love and war," she grouched petulantly.

"Aye, that it is. You win m'lady," he said before bowing down to her cunning tactics. "Come here, my ticklish vampire." Killian pulled her into his embrace, hugging her affectionately.

Emma returned his embrace and pecked his lips before they bent to pick up their drinks and head to the next Miner's Festival adventure. They rode the carousel, making out like teens when they stopped at the top, bid on some baskets at the silent auction, listened to an informational presentation about the mines of Storybrooke and what they contained, fairy dust, much to Emma's surprise, and played a host of carnie games, winning little trinkets. Killian bought Emma some handmade candles for the charity being promoted, then he transported everything back to their room before he and Emma settled at a spot front and center for the Nolan's campaign debut.

The townsfolk gathered as the imposing clock tower rang 6 P.M. for all to hear. David and Mary Margaret gave a joint speech filled with facts on how a new government could enhance the lives in this small town, promises of changes to come, and of course, hope for the future. When they were finished they locked hands and held them high in the air, calling on the people to vote for Nolan and Nolan in the election to be held at town hall the following morning.

As the crowd stood cheering, a heavy gust of wind swept through the festival. Everyone quieted, not sure what had caused the uncharacteristic gale on this calm evening.

"It seems my invitation was lost in the mail?" Regina sneered at the crowd as she appeared on the stage next to Mary Margaret and David.

A tense stillness came over all as they held their breath waiting to see what the Evil Queen wanted. She was no longer dressed in her sensible pant suit, but instead was covered from head to toe in black. Her hair was swept back into a tight ponytail which was pulled up dramatically through her head piece that came down to a vee shape on her forehead, and she wore a skin tight black dress that flared at the bottom.

"Anyone is welcome, Regina," Mary Margaret countered.

"I heard your hope speeches," she gestured a gagging motion before continuing, "they won't do any good. This isn't a democracy, despite my title of mayor. It's actually more like a... dictatorship, we've just never had to call it that before."

"Not anymore," David interjected. "The people demand a change."

Regina disappeared and reappeared right in front of David, wrapping her hand around his neck. Flicking her wrist, she incapacitated Snow as the woman charged toward her. "I don't give a fuck what the people demand. They don't have a choice," she cackled.

Emma and Killian were up on the stage in a flash the moment Regina attacked. "Let him go!" Emma shouted.

"Really? Do you think that's all it takes is you telling me what to do?" With those words Regina plunged her hand into David's chest.

Emma and Killian gasped with horror as they watched the impossible happen. Regina retracted her hand slowly, and gripped in her fist was David's heart. She let go of his neck, no longer needing it to control his movement.

David's hands flew to his chest and he heaved as she squeezed the organ, laughing maniacally.

Turning toward Killian and Emma she held out his heart. "One wrong move and I'll crush it," grit out between bared teeth. "This is my town," she shouted to the crowd, "anyone who dares to participate in this silly little vote will meet the same fate as the charming would-be-sheriff Nolan here." With that she squeezed his heart.

Tears streamed down Snow's face, the only movement not ceased by Regina's hold. David screamed in agony, still clutching his chest until finally his heart gave out, it disintegrated in Regina's hand and she callously brushed the dust from her fingers.

Emma leapt toward Regina once she no longer held David's heart as leverage. She wrestled her to the ground, pinning her roughly to the floor. "I'm going to rip your fucking throat out," she roared in Regina's face.

"Emma. No! Don't do this," Killian shouted. He didn't want her first act in Storybrooke to be murder. He didn't want her living with the guilt she might have if they didn't try to find another way.

"What?" she cried out through the tears and rage that blinded her. "She killed David!"

 _Enthrall her, take away her will. Control her, Emma. We can find another way. Look into her eyes and command her._

Emma shook her head as Killian's thoughts flooded her brain. She didn't want to take Regina's will, she wanted to take her life. She looked at David's lifeless form, now laying in Mary Margaret's arms. Regina's spell over the distraught fairy had been broken and the she'd immediately run to his side.

"No, she has to pay!" Emma told Killian.

"We can make her pay, just not by murdering her, love." Killian whispered to Emma as he knelt down next to where she had Regina pinned. He grabbed each of the woman's wrists above where Emma was holding them and then nudged Emma to let him take over. Complying, she let him take over then ran to Mary Margaret's side.

Looking into the eyes of evil, Killian concentrated as she stared back with a smirk on her lips. "Stop fighting. You will surrender yourself to the new law in this town."

"You will fix this, I know you can."

Regina's entire body relaxed, and she ceased to struggle against the hold Killian had on her. Nodding her head she colorlessly said, "There is a way."

"Tell me," he said darkly.

"I must take out Snow's heart. I will split it in half and then they will share one heart," she said mechanically.

"Can this be done?" Killian shouted out to anyone who might have answers.

"I've read about it, in the ancient scrolls," a low tone murmured from the crowd. "It's fabled to be a way for true loves to be united, should one meet their demise."

Killian recognized the owner of the voice, it was the librarian, Belle. She seemed to be knowledgeable in all folklore. He didn't have time to research it, if they waited too long, he feared David's body would be too long expired to accept Snow's heart.

"Do it," he commanded her. Leading Regina to where David lay in Snow's lap Killian forced Regina to her knees, restraining both hands behind her back. "Do not fuck with us," he snarled in her ear, then he released both her hands to perform the transfer.

A second too late, Emma saw the wicked gleam in Regina's eye and the smirk of her lip as it lifted in disgust. Summoning a dagger from nothing Regina violently lunged at Snow and sliced her throat.

Snow grabbed at her throat, as she choked and gasped for air.

"You think you can enthrall me vampire? No happy endings!" Regina screamed maniacally.

 _Heal Snow, Killian!_ Emma cast to him. She tackled Regina backwards to the ground. "You will never hurt anyone again," she spat at the woman. "Right now Killian is saving Mary Margaret, healing her neck with his venom, and after that _I_ will split her heart and save David too."

"No," Regina howled into the night.

Grabbing the dagger that had clattered to the ground, Emma held it above the woman, for just a moment she thought on the poetic justice that was Regina being slaughtered with her own weapon. And then she plunged the dagger deep into the Evil Queen's heart. The acrid smell of her blood assaulted Emma's nose and she gagged as a thick black liquid bubbled to the surface when she pulled the dagger out.

Emma thought back to the short amount of research she and Killian had done. Could it really be this easy? _No, it can't be_ , she thought. Taking no chances, Emma shoved her hand into the woman's chest and emerged with a shriveled black heart.

"Wait!" Killian shouted.

"No, I'm sorry Killian, not this time, we can't take the chance."

"Aye love," he agreed sinking down next to her. He encased her hand in his own and together they crushed her heart. The dust flew away with the explosion of light that burst forth from Regina's body.

A surge hit the crowd and suddenly there was crying and laughing, yelling and whooping. Looking out to the citizens, they watched as couples and families were reunited.

"You broke her curse!" Belle exclaimed. "You brought back the happy endings."

"Not all of them," Emma said, "yet." Standing up, the couple walked back to Mary Margaret who was still holding David. "I can fix this. Even though it was a ploy, I think Regina was telling the truth about how to share a heart. I remember reading that with true love couples, one often does not live long after the other's death, and that one of the ways they are able to survive even the death of a mate is to be of one heart."

Mary Margaret took off her jacket and unbuttoned the first few buttons of her blouse. Pulling the material to the sides she looked at Emma. "Do it. I forgive you, no matter what happens." Tears streamed down her cheeks as a realization hit her. "I know now what you were living with the entire year Killian was gone. I don't know how you survived it, because I too would rather die than go on without him," she confessed through uncontrolled sobs.

Bloody tears fell over Emma's cheeks as she listened to her friend's plea. Gently reaching inside Snow's chest she found the organ and withdrew her hand. It wasn't bloody as she'd thought, but a brilliant and shining red; the four chambers were decidedly two halves. Closing her eyes she focused every part of her being on saving David. Snow clutched her chest as Emma gingerly gripped both halves and moved to separate them, causing Emma to jump and cease.

"No, go on," Snow gasped. "It's this, or nothing."

Emma started again, this time she concentrated on separating the halves, and when she opened her eyes she held identical pieces of the same heart in each hand. Turning to Killian she handed him one half. Gripping Snow's shoulder she started to place the heart back in her chest.

Snow stopped Emma's movement. "David first, if it doesn't work, I won't need this."

Emma looked into her friend's eyes reassuringly, "It's gonna work." Then without another moment's hesitation she delivered the organ back to it's home.

Killian handed Emma the other half and she leaned over David. After whispering a small prayer to any god that might listen, Emma shoved the other half into its new home. She was rewarded immediately with David's strangled intake of breath.

"Charming!" Snow shouted before diving into his arms.

"Oomph!" All the breath he'd struggled to take in left his body once more. But the feeling of his wife in his arms overtook the need to breath. His heart fluttered happily, and he felt an invigorated connection to Snow. "What happened?"

Snow kissed him soundly, all the while pressing her forehead to his. A faint glow emanated from the pair as Snow regaled him telepathically with the evening's events. David placed a hand over his heart and a single tear streaked down his cheek. "You gave me half of your heart?"

Snow nodded once before capturing his lips again.

"She may have given you half her heart, mate, but there was a time that I held your heart."

Even though they were all laughing, Emma slapped his chest. "Too soon," she scolded.

Just then a loud, brash, bearded man walked up to the group. "What should we do with the body, Sheriff Nolan?"

"Um, I'm not the sheriff yet," David answered.

"What do you say, Storybrooke?" the gruff little man yelled. "Do we need a vote, or is this the new sheriff in town?" He held David's arm up in the air as if they were in a boxing match.

The crowd cheered and whistled, signaling their agreement to the new sheriff of Storybrooke.

"Leroy!" Snow exclaimed as she finally realized why the man looked so familiar. He'd been one of her guards before the curse.

"Princess Snow," he tipped his head.

"Well, I'd still like an official vote, in the interest of fairness," David said, ever the boy scout. "And what body?"

"Her body," Leroy said gruffly, pointing at Regina's lifeless corpse.

"Hmm, death becomes her," David muttered under his breath.

The group decided that the best course of action would be to dispose of the body completely, just to keep any necromancing at bay. While Emma would've liked to see her lit up on a pyre, just for closure, the town's medical team took the body to the hospital to take care of the dirty work. After viewing just what said dirty work involved, Emma was positive there would be no subsequent issues from the Evil Queen.

~CS~

Killian took Emma's hand in his as they left the hospital, and grinned at her, "I think we make quite the team, Swan. Although, I guess we always did."

 _Take me home._

 _Home?_

Emma nodded her head, the sheer movement causing further exhaustion to her psyche.

"Alright love," he whispered. "Don't you want to say goodbye to the Nolans?"

Tears brimmed Emma's eyes as she looked at her friends who were several paces in front of them. "Hey guys?"

The couple turned around when Emma called out.

"I'm going to have Killian take me home for awhile."

"Okay," Snow said, "let's meet for lunch tomorrow? I promise I will stock up on some beverages for you two so we can hang at our place, instead of eating out all the time."

"I mean home, home Mary Margaret."

The other woman's face pinched with pain, but she held herself together. Emma was the newest to this life afterall. It was going to take some getting used to. "Alright, well, we will see you soon, then." She reached out for her friend and pulled her into a hug. They parted with the promise that they would indeed see each other soon.

"Do you want to grab our belongings from the room?"

"No," she whispered, as the first of many tears fell, "just take me home."

"I've got you," Killian murmured, then he gathered her up and poofed them home. He watched as Emma silently stripped her clothes off and stepped into the shower. She stood there motionlessly under the spray until he couldn't take it anymore. Stepping in behind her Killian picked up the shampoo and proceeded to wash her hair, then her body. He tried to hold his tears in check as silent sobs shook her body. When she was clean he washed himself quickly, then dried them both. "Do you wish to dress," he asked her quietly.

She shook her head no before walking over to their bed and lying down under the blankets. Killian followed, slipping in beside her. "May I hold you?" He didn't know if she'd want the contact, he'd not seen her like this since he'd watched her mourn his loss.

Emma rolled toward him when he asked the question, she immediately sought the solace of his arms. She'd had to mourn without him before, she wasn't going to take for granted that he'd always be here. The floodgates opened and she couldn't even be quiet anymore. Broken sobs poured from her as the events of the past several hours really hit her.

"What is it, love, let me help."

"I… I took a life," she choked out.

"There was no other way, you know that. We gave her a chance to redeem herself, and she chose to try to murder not one but two people we love."

Emma shook her head against his chest, "It doesn't matter. Here I am with a second chance at life, and what do I do? I take one. And what's worse is all I wanted to do after was fuck and feed." She was utterly disgusted with herself. Her humanity had fallen by the wayside in the matter of days.

Killian leaned back and propped her chin up to look at him. "I understand. I was beside myself when I first took a life. Even though it was a life for a life, I struggled that I was effectively acting as judge, jury, and executioner. But what if I hadn't, would one of your murderers still be at it? Emma, what would have happened if you hadn't killed her. She would have attacked the innocent bystanders, then I wouldn't have been able to heal Snow, and she wouldn't have been able to save Dave. What I know is everyone is better off with her dead. As for the afterthoughts, that's called the frenzy, it's natural to most blood drinking beings."

Emma thought on his words. Deep down she knew he was right, but it still felt wrong to have ended a life.

"Why did you want to come here?"

"I just… I don't know if I can live in the supe world. I don't know if I am cut out for it. I mean, Killian who knows what else is out there with a score to settle. I could've lost you tonight, and we… we don't have hearts. What would happen if one of us was mortally wounded, we wouldn't be able to share a heart like Mary Margaret and David. I can't lose you." Her lips stretched with the heave of her sob as she imagined losing him again, and she threw a hand over her mouth to quell the noise.

"We're different than they are," Killian reasoned. "We have hearts, Emma, they just no longer beat a human rhythm. There are few ways for us to actually meet our mortality, if we were to meet the sun, a stake, massive amounts of silver, or beheading, there is nothing a half a heart could do to save us from that. I know it doesn't sound reassuring, but it is the bottom line, and though I don't take it lightly, I know that through most things, we would be able to heal each other without needing a heart. Plus, you don't have to worry about me, love. I'm a survivor, and I know you are too."

Emma rolled her eyes at the last bit. "Damn you," she sniffed.

"What?" he asked, taken aback by her curse.

"Always so logical. I know in my brain everything you're saying is accurate and true. It's my… unbeating heart that is having issues processing all this."

Killian wrapped her tighter, "That comes with time, you're still... young for a vampire."

Emma chuckled lightly, knowing he'd wanted to call her a toddler. "And you're so old and wise, right?"

"Wise beyond my years, as it were."

"You are so conceited."

Killian squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed his head as the room suddenly spun out of control. "Bloody Hell, I'll never get used to that."

"Yeah you will," Emma laughed as she opened her eyes. Before she even knew the thought, she was picturing them cuddled in their cozy room at the inn. "I guess I just needed a reality check," she whispered, then placed a chaste kiss to his lips. "Thank you, Killian." She rested her forehead to his, the physical contact comforting.

"You're welcome," he whispered genuinely before kissing her back.

"This is where we belong. Among our friends, our kind, and together."

"Aye, together love, forever."

"Forever."


End file.
